President Moves to Reform Civil Service

For John, BLUF:  The change you have been looking for.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

---

Trump Moves to Ease the Firing of Federal Workers

From The Old Gray Lady, by Mr Noam Scheiber, 25 May 2018.

Here is the lede plus two:

Seizing on a longtime ambition of many Republicans, President Trump on Friday overhauled rules affecting at least two million federal workers, making it easier to fire them and rolling back the workplace role of their unions.

Mr. Trump, furthering a goal cited in his State of the Union address this year, signed a series of executive orders affecting disciplinary procedures and contract negotiations and limiting the conduct of union business on government time.

Andrew Bremberg, the head of the White House Domestic Policy Council, said the president was “fulfilling his promise to promote more efficient government by reforming our Civil Service rules.”

Back when I was in High School the space race was just breaking out and the Soviets were ahead.  President Eisenhower insisted the US shouldn't militarize the space race and thus the US tried to use the Vanguard research rocket to put satellites into orbit.  It had a number of failures, leading to a 1950s joke that it should be renamed Civil Service—it didn't work; it couldn't be fired.  Yes, a bit of a stretch, but it was the 1950s.

Then Maryland's Senator Chris Van Hollen speaks up:

But Senator Chris Van Hollen, Democrat of Maryland, said in a statement that if the administration were truly interested in restoring public trust in the federal government, it should rein in the excesses of some of its senior appointees, not politicize the Civil Service.

"Politicize the Civil Service"?  Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich says that 97 percent of Justice Department donations went to Hillary Clinton, and 99 percent of State Department donations went to the same place.  How is Mr Trump politicizing the Civil Service?

The big problem here is that Mr Trump is raising the expectations bar.  He is doing what he promised when he was out on the hustings.  How can other politicians compete?

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff