SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
President Joe Biden delivers remarks regarding lowering health care costs during an event in the Indian Treaty Room at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in Washington, Wednesday, April 3, 2024.
(Photo: Demetrius Freeman/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
Amid Federal Layoffs, Biden Rule Protects Civil Servants From Political Firings
"President Biden's predecessor and other conservatives have made clear they would support stripping hundreds of thousands of federal employees of their civil service rights and protections," said one union leader.
Apr 04, 2024
Approximately 90,000 people across the United States lost their jobs in March, and roughly a third were in the federal government, making last month the worst for job losses since January 2023.
However, a new rule introduced by the Biden administration aims at protecting the jobs of civil servants in the federal government, which goes against the plans former President Donald Trump has should he return to office.
"Career federal employees deliver critical services for Americans in every community," said U.S. Office of Personnel Management Director Kiran Ahuja. "This final rule honors our 2.2 million career civil servants, helping ensure that people are hired and fired based on merit and that they can carry out their duties based on their expertise and not political loyalty."
Biden stmnt on new OPM rule being finalized that tightens job securities for civil servants + limits the positions that can have those protections removed
(Trump allies view this as more a speedbump than a roadblock to dramatically overhaul the civil service should Trump win) pic.twitter.com/k4y8JQtvBE
— Allan Smith (@akarl_smith) April 4, 2024
Trump intends to fire tens of thousands of career civil servants in the federal government and replace them with loyalists if he returns to the White House—part of the far-right initiative Project 2025, aimed at consolidating Trump's power and avoiding any obstacles to the goals which he hopes to accomplish.
"President Biden's action reinforces and clarifies federal employees' due process rights and civil service protections, strengthening the apolitical civil service and hampering efforts to return the government to a corrupt spoils system," said American Federation of Government Employees National President Everett Kelle.
"President Biden's predecessor and other conservatives have made clear," added Kelle. "They would support stripping hundreds of thousands of federal employees of their civil service rights and protections and turning them into at-will workers who could be hired or fired at any time for political reasons."
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Approximately 90,000 people across the United States lost their jobs in March, and roughly a third were in the federal government, making last month the worst for job losses since January 2023.
However, a new rule introduced by the Biden administration aims at protecting the jobs of civil servants in the federal government, which goes against the plans former President Donald Trump has should he return to office.
"Career federal employees deliver critical services for Americans in every community," said U.S. Office of Personnel Management Director Kiran Ahuja. "This final rule honors our 2.2 million career civil servants, helping ensure that people are hired and fired based on merit and that they can carry out their duties based on their expertise and not political loyalty."
Biden stmnt on new OPM rule being finalized that tightens job securities for civil servants + limits the positions that can have those protections removed
(Trump allies view this as more a speedbump than a roadblock to dramatically overhaul the civil service should Trump win) pic.twitter.com/k4y8JQtvBE
— Allan Smith (@akarl_smith) April 4, 2024
Trump intends to fire tens of thousands of career civil servants in the federal government and replace them with loyalists if he returns to the White House—part of the far-right initiative Project 2025, aimed at consolidating Trump's power and avoiding any obstacles to the goals which he hopes to accomplish.
"President Biden's action reinforces and clarifies federal employees' due process rights and civil service protections, strengthening the apolitical civil service and hampering efforts to return the government to a corrupt spoils system," said American Federation of Government Employees National President Everett Kelle.
"President Biden's predecessor and other conservatives have made clear," added Kelle. "They would support stripping hundreds of thousands of federal employees of their civil service rights and protections and turning them into at-will workers who could be hired or fired at any time for political reasons."
From Your Site Articles
Approximately 90,000 people across the United States lost their jobs in March, and roughly a third were in the federal government, making last month the worst for job losses since January 2023.
However, a new rule introduced by the Biden administration aims at protecting the jobs of civil servants in the federal government, which goes against the plans former President Donald Trump has should he return to office.
"Career federal employees deliver critical services for Americans in every community," said U.S. Office of Personnel Management Director Kiran Ahuja. "This final rule honors our 2.2 million career civil servants, helping ensure that people are hired and fired based on merit and that they can carry out their duties based on their expertise and not political loyalty."
Biden stmnt on new OPM rule being finalized that tightens job securities for civil servants + limits the positions that can have those protections removed
(Trump allies view this as more a speedbump than a roadblock to dramatically overhaul the civil service should Trump win) pic.twitter.com/k4y8JQtvBE
— Allan Smith (@akarl_smith) April 4, 2024
Trump intends to fire tens of thousands of career civil servants in the federal government and replace them with loyalists if he returns to the White House—part of the far-right initiative Project 2025, aimed at consolidating Trump's power and avoiding any obstacles to the goals which he hopes to accomplish.
"President Biden's action reinforces and clarifies federal employees' due process rights and civil service protections, strengthening the apolitical civil service and hampering efforts to return the government to a corrupt spoils system," said American Federation of Government Employees National President Everett Kelle.
"President Biden's predecessor and other conservatives have made clear," added Kelle. "They would support stripping hundreds of thousands of federal employees of their civil service rights and protections and turning them into at-will workers who could be hired or fired at any time for political reasons."
From Your Site Articles
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.