Dear NTEU Members:
As a new administration prepares to take office, I am sure that some of you are concerned about potential threats to federal employees. As a long-time federal employee, I share your concern about the increasing anti-federal employee rhetoric, including from those who speak in support of firing federal employees in political retaliation. I want you to understand that agencies cannot legally fire employees as a means of enforcing a political agenda.
Federal employees like you perform nearly all the functions of the federal government: collecting taxes, ensuring our national security, regulating industry and operating our national parks. For nearly 150 years, the law has required that federal employees be hired based on their knowledge, skill and expertise. Federal employees must be able to exercise their independent judgment to apply the law - without fear of political retaliation - so that they can fully serve the public.
NTEU has been hard at work supporting ways to protect merit-based hiring practices and protect employees from unlawful firings based on political agenda. For example, at NTEU’s urging, OPM issued regulations that reinforce employees’ Constitutional and statutory due process protections in situations where employees are designated to be involuntarily moved to new hiring categories with fewer rights.
I know firsthand that federal employees perform their jobs without concern for who is president. I urge you to talk to your friends and family about the importance of a skill-based civil service. Help them to understand that federal employees keep America running by ensuring that our borders are secure, vulnerable communities are protected from harm, and our medicines and food supply are safe. I will keep you informed about NTEU’s efforts on your behalf on this and other issues as they develop.
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