Clash Continues Over Public Service Reform, Schedule F Amongst Lawmakers
Reps. Chip Roy (R-TX), Mary Miller (R-IL), Troy Nehls, R-(TX), Bob Good (R-VA), and Lauren Boebert (R-CO), introduced legislation on Thursday to eliminate several civil service protections for federal employees.
In its current state, the Public Service Reform Act (H.R. 8550) would reclassify federal employees as at-will and strip them of many avenues currently in place to appeal adverse personnel actions. Further, it would abolish the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) and redirect all whistleblower retaliation complaints to the Office of Special Counsel (OSC) for a limited period of 14 days, after which all appeals would go directly to federal appellate courts. Under this bill, a federal employee would have a limited ability to counter any action against them, including in instances of discrimination through the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and to the OSC.
The move comes in the wake of former Trump Administration officials reinvigorating their call to create a Schedule F within the federal workforce if elected for a second term.
Under an Executive Order initially proposed at the end of former-President Trump’s term, the Schedule F plan would reclassifying career employees with policy making authority, among other characteristics. Employees in the newly created Schedule F would be outside the competitive service making them easier to hire and fire. President Biden rescinded the executive order within his first few days in office.
House Democrats have advanced legislation to counter the creation of a Schedule F in the federal workforce. The House passed an amendment under the fiscal year (FY) 2023 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) which would block future administrations from bringing back Schedule F. Senate Democrats also included a similar provision in the FY 2023 financial services and general government draft appropriations bill, a coalition of senators have proposed legislation that would prevent the future creation of additional employee classifications.
Sens. Tim Kaine (D-VA), Ben Cardin (D-MD), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), and Mark R. Warner (D-VA), introduced the Preventing a Patronage System Act (S.4685) which would stop agency heads from reclassifying any federal civil service position outside of a merit-based system. This bill is identical to the Preventing a Patronage System Act (H.R.302) Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-VA) introduced in the House previously.
