President Biden has implemented new regulations that make it even more difficult to fire poorly performing federal employees. These rules reinforce removal restrictions and prevent the reclassification of federal bureaucrats. This change is specifically designed to block the reinstatement of reforms implemented during the Trump administration, making the deep state even less accountable.
The process for dismissing federal employees is broken, with agencies taking up to a year to remove poor performers and lengthy appeals often resulting in reinstatement with back pay. This makes it expensive and uncertain to remove employees for misconduct. For example, two prosecutors at the Department of Justice who withheld evidence from a senator’s defense team had their suspensions overturned on a technicality, resulting in back wages and attorney fees totaling $643,000.
The dysfunction in the system empowers bad actors and allows for partisanship to be injected into official duties. This was evident during the Trump administration, with career employees openly opposing policies and even boasting about their resistance. Most Americans recognize that unelected bureaucrats have too much control over federal policy, posing a serious challenge to democracy.
President Trump addressed these issues with an executive order creating “Schedule F” for career officials in policy-influencing roles, making them at-will employees without removal restrictions. This allowed agencies to address poor performance or misconduct effectively and quickly. Despite its potential for success, President Biden revoked Schedule F shortly after taking office and implemented new rules to prevent its reinstatement.
The new regulations reinforce career employee removal restrictions and prevent reclassification into at-will status, making it challenging to dismiss problematic federal employees. This rule protects poor performers and bureaucratic resistance, ensuring the deep state remains unaccountable to the president and the American people. The federal dismissal process is recognized as broken, and President Biden’s new rule will only make it harder to fix, posing a threat to America and democracy.
