Leading up to the most recent presidential election, then-Republican nominee for President, Donald Trump, promised to “remove rogue bureaucrats” that “wield [their] power aggressively.” Within 24 hours, he followed through with his campaign declaration by signing an executive order that reinstated Schedule F, an executive order that classifies certain civil servants as “at-will” employees able to be fired at the White House’s discretion like political appointees.
“Accountability is essential for all Federal employees, but it is especially important for those who are in policy-influencing positions. These personnel are entrusted to shape and implement actions that have a significant impact on all Americans,” the statement reads.
“Any power they have is delegated by the President, and they must be accountable to the President, who is the only member of the executive branch, other than the Vice President, elected and directly accountable to the American people. In recent years, however, there have been numerous and well-documented cases of career Federal employees resisting and undermining the policies and directives of their executive leadership. Principles of good administration, therefore, necessitate action to restore accountability to the career civil service, beginning with positions of a confidential, policy-determining, policy-making, or policy-advocating character.”
In response, the National Treasury Employees Union has sued the Florida resident. The federal employee union seeks to protect the “due process rights” of its members.
“Congress has enacted comprehensive legislation governing the hiring and employment of federal employees,” the lawsuit reads.
“When establishing hiring principles, Congress determined that most federal government jobs be in the merit-based, competitive service. And it established that most federal employees have due process rights if their agency employer wants to remove them from employment.”
The National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) is among a growing collection of unions and individuals suing the former reality show host during the first week of his second term. Elsewhere, nearly two dozen states have filed a lawsuit after the President signed an executive order seeking to restrict birthright citizenship.
