A coalition of unions representing federal workers is challenging a “loyalty question” on applications for federal government jobs that asks about alignment with the Trump administration agenda.
That question is part of an effort to implement a Merit Hiring Plan throughout the federal government. The plan was outlined in an Office of Personnel Management (OPM) memo in May, which included four essay questions for prospective federal workers to answer. One question specifically asks how federal workers would support the Trump administration’s agenda:
“How would you help advance the President’s Executive Orders and policy priorities in this role? Identify one or two relevant Executive Orders or policy initiatives that are significant to you, and explain how you would help implement them if hired.”
According to a suit filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, that question makes applicants feel “compelled to speak in the form of a written essay praising the President’s orders and policies (in order to better their chances of employment), risk being punished for answering honestly, or be chilled from speaking at all.”
The unions who filed the suit, including the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) – the largest union representing federal workers – and Democracy Forward, argued in their filing that the question “threatens the nonpartisan, merit-based civil service.”
Since 1883, the federal government has used a merit-based civil service system following the passage of the Pendleton Act of 1883, which replaced the “spoils system” where jobs were given based on political alignment. This instead placed an emphasis on career employees’ skills and experience, while allowing political appointees to fill leadership positions.
The unions pointed to recent moves by the Trump administration to place federal hiring power in the hands of political appointees who will oversee hiring committees that make decisions on who gets hired into civilian agencies, according to a recent OPM memo and White House executive order.
“The current Administration has a stated goal of removing civil servants it deems to be disloyal and replacing them with loyalists,” the suit reads. “By directing the use of the Loyalty Question in job applications for most career positions and instructing politically appointed agency leaders to review applicant responses, the Administration appears to be trying to fill nearly every level of the civil service with political loyalists.”
The Trump administration earlier this year offered a deferred resignation program for career employees which was criticized by lawmakers as an attempt to “push out nonpartisan federal workers.”
The unions said that OPM violated the first amendment rights of applicants by asking about political beliefs and for compelling prospective employees to praise the Trump administration.
They also said that the question is in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act and privacy laws because it requests unnecessary and irrelevant information.
“This isn’t just illegal, it also harms our members and all Americans by depriving them of opportunities to serve their country and by undermining a skilled, nonpartisan workforce,” said AFGE National President Everett Kelley in a statement.
Lee Saunders, president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, added that “these ‘loyalty tests’ put partisan politics over expertise, leading to a talent drain within vital agencies that will put public health and safety at deep risk. We’re filing this lawsuit to defend the integrity of a nonpartisan, qualified civil service, and to ensure federal agencies serve the people, not self-interested partisan politicians.”