In order to tackle President Donald Trump’s promise of a “deep state” revamp of federal agencies like the DOJ and the FBI, President Joe Biden’s administration is laying down a rule that would make it more difficult to fire federal workers. In a statement on Thursday morning, the White House revealed a statement announcing that the administration is implementing “protections for 2.2 million career civil servants from political interference, to guarantee that they can carry out their responsibilities in the best interest of the American people.”
Biden administration rule makes firing federal workers harder as Trump promises 'deep state' revamp https://t.co/Xxols6IdS3
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Defending the rule as one that would “protect nonpartisan civil servants,” the administration said, “Day in and day out, career civil servants provide the expertise and continuity necessary for our democracy to function.”
“Day in and day out, career civil servants provide the expertise and continuity necessary for our democracy to function. They provide Americans with life-saving and life-changing services and put opportunity within reach for millions. That’s why since taking office, I have worked to strengthen, empower, and rebuild our career workforce,” the statement added.
According to Biden, the rule is “a step toward combatting corruption and partisan interference to ensure civil servants are able to focus on the most important task at hand: delivering for the American people.”
The statement was accompanied by the implementation of new regulations by the Office of Personnel Management which prohibits career civil servants from being reclassified as political appointees or other at-will workers who can be easily fired from their jobs.
The new rule could also spell out procedural requirements for reclassifying federal workers and state that civil service protections accrued by them cannot be taken away regardless of their job type.
The Biden administration’s rule has faced criticism from some quarters, with House Committee on Oversight and Accountability Chairman James Comer (R-KY) saying that it shields federal workers from accountability.
“OPM’s final rule is yet another example of the Biden Administration’s efforts to insulate the federal workforce from accountability. The federal workforce exists to serve the American people, yet many Americans have a deep and growing distrust of the federal bureaucracy,” Comer said in a statement criticizing the rule.
“The Biden Administration’s rule will further undermine Americans’ confidence in their government since it allows poor performing federal workers and those who attempt to thwart the policies of a duly elected President to remain entrenched in the federal bureaucracy. We need more accountability for the unelected federal bureaucracy, not less,” he added.
Comer went on to point out that the Biden administration’s rule will “protect the federal bureaucracy” not “increase the American people’s confidence in it.”
As pointed out by National Treasury Employees Union President Doreen Greenwald said in a statement, the rule will make it more difficult for “any president to arbitrarily remove the nonpartisan professionals who staff our federal agencies just to make room for hand-picked partisan loyalists.”
