On May 25, the House Oversight and Reform Committee approved the Preventing a Patronage System Act (H.R. 302) by a vote of 22-19. The bill, sponsored by House Government Operations Subcommittee Chairman Gerry Connolly (D-VA), prohibits executive agency positions in the competitive service from being placed in the excepted service, unless such positions are placed in Schedules A through E as in effect on September 30, 2020. The bill also prohibits positions in the excepted service from being placed in any schedule other than the aforementioned schedules.

On Wednesday, October 21, President Donald Trump released an Executive Order (EO) creating Schedule F in the Federal Government’s Excepted Service. FMA immediately voiced opposition to the action, which creates a new class of career “confidential, policy-determining, or policy-advocating” positions, unprotected by traditional due process. FMA National President Craig Carter said, “By undermining the Pendleton Act, it will take all political neutrality out of the leadership of the civil service and eliminate the insulation provided by Pendleton from that type of influence.”

President Biden rescinded that executive order in his first week in office. H.R. 302 would prevent future administrations – Democratic or Republican – from acting alone, without Congress’ approval, in the future. The elimination of due process for terminating employees leaves them solely at the whim of politicians – intolerable under any administration. “Indeed, a hallmark of America’s civil service is the foundational, fundamental understanding that federal employees swear an oath to the Constitution and provide services to all Americans, regardless of political party. The federal government cannot function effectively without this nonpolitical civil service capable of preserving institutional memory and competence across administrations,” Carter wrote.