A group of five conservative Republicans has introduced legislation to make the federal government an at-will employer, eviscerating civil service protections, chilling whistleblower activity and abolishing the Merit Systems Protection Board.

Reps. Chip Roy, R-Texas, Mary Miller, R-Ill., Troy Nehls, R-Texas, Bob Good, R-Va., and Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., on Thursday introduced the Public Service Reform Act (H.R. 8550), which would make federal workers at-will employees and strip them of many of the avenues currently at their disposal to appeal adverse personnel actions. It would abolish the MSPB, sending all complaints of whistleblower retaliation to the Office of Special Counsel, albeit only for 14 days, after which all appeals would go directly to federal appellate courts.

“Most career civil servants do their jobs faithfully day in and day out, but there are still too many federal employees actively undermining America through their blatant contempt for our nation, the rule of law, and the American people,” Roy said in a statement. “That is because policies meant to insulate the government from politics have instead created a dense web of red tape that rewards laziness and noncompliance and enables hostile partisans to entrench themselves within federal agencies. Former President Trump is absolutely right about this: there needs to be a reckoning, and bureaucrats actually need to be fireable.”

Although the bill stands nearly zero chance of passing in the current...

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