, Columnist
Trump’s War on Civil Servants Is Worse Than It Looks
His executive order would impose a chilling effect on professionals who use their expertise to raise questions and doubts.
Chilling effect.
Photographer: Al Drago/Bloomberg
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For decades, U.S. government civil servants have had a degree of job security, in the sense that the president, and his political appointees, could not fire them merely because they were not sufficiently “loyal.” That would change under an executive order issued by President Donald Trump that is aimed at undermining the legal protection long given to many thousands of these career employees.
On Jan. 19, 2021, they will apparently become closer to “at will” employees. If the president, or political appointees, want to fire them, they can.