【By Guo, Zhi】The Wall Street Journal reported on February 6 that the U.S. government will streamline the firing procedures for 50,000 federal employees, a move aimed at penalizing federal employees who hinder President Trump's administration.

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) issued a final rule on the 5th, creating a new independent employee category for senior career employees whose main responsibilities are to implement government policies. Employees in this category will no longer be subject to the high standards set for federal employee dismissals.

While political appointees are considered employees who can be fired at will by the president, career employees have long enjoyed strong job security, including the right to appeal to an independent committee regarding dismissal, suspension, or disciplinary action. Employees in the new category will lose the right to appeal to that committee.

This change is part of the Trump administration's broader effort to reform federal agencies and reduce the size of the government workforce.

Headquarters of the Office of Personnel Management in Washington.

Driven by Trump's long-standing claim that the "deep state" is undermining his agenda, senior political appointees have closed some government programs, fired thousands of employees, and offered voluntary separation agreements to others.

OPM officials said the regulation is intended, in part, to punish federal employees who obstruct Trump's policies. OPM stated that the new category applies to high-level positions that inherently involve policy-making, policy formulation, or policy advocacy.

Scott Kupor, director of OPM, said in an interview that people cannot impede their job duties by "refusing on principle," especially when such refusal turns into deliberate sabotage or attempts to thwart government objectives, which is not allowed.

Federal employee unions are concerned that Trump's advisers might use the new rules as an excuse to remove government workers with differing political views. Some union officials warned that this administration may seek to significantly increase the number of federal employees falling into the new category.

OPM said that about 50,000 employees potentially affected by the regulatory changes represent only a relatively small portion of the 2.3 million people working in civilian jobs for the federal government.

The civil service reform established in the 19th century transformed the federal hiring system from a "spoils system" based on partisan interests to a professionalized system with minimal partisan interference.

OPM officials said the government will not punish employees based on their party, nor will it ask whom they voted for. They said the regulation will not be used as a reason for mass layoffs and added that the government will comply with federal laws protecting whistleblowers.

Senior officials at government agencies have compiled a list of positions that qualify for the new employment category set by the regulation. OPM officials said they will complete the full list within 30 days after the new regulation is released. It is expected that Trump will issue an executive order at that time to place specific positions into the new category.

OPM officials also said the regulation implements an executive order signed by Trump on his first day in his second term, which required performance-based government services to "prevent the hiring of individuals unwilling to defend the Constitution or unwilling to serve the executive branch faithfully."

Trump issued an executive order shortly before leaving office in his first term, making similar changes to the classification of federal employees. This order was later revoked by Biden.

The latest regulation lists several behaviors that could lead to disciplinary action, including leaking information to the media to undermine policies. The regulation cites an email sent by an administrative judge at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) soon after Trump's inauguration to the acting chairwoman Andrea Lucas and all EEOC employees, stating, "I will not participate in the attempt to target ordinary citizens and colleagues through recent illegal executive orders."

"If you tell everyone at work that you hate this administration... then you perform poorly at work, do nothing, "Kupor said, "then the fact that you told everyone you were going to resist may be taken into consideration."

The watchdog group "Government Accountability Project" and the "National Association of Retired Federal Employees" have already filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration. The lawsuit pointed out that the measures planned by this administration violate a law passed in 1978 aimed at safeguarding the job stability of career federal employees — the law clearly states that only political appointees are subject to the "at-will employment" principle.

Lovett Ratterree, a federal employee rights coach, commented: "This will make the government more susceptible to suppressing internal dissent and even hindering civil servants who strive to ensure the policy-making process is compliant and responsible."

This article is an exclusive piece by The Paper, and it cannot be reprinted without permission.

Original: toutiao.com/article/7603617886615126566/

Statement: The article represents the personal views of the author.