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Federal Workers Challenge Trump Rules on Hiring, Firing


— January 29, 2025

Everett Kelley, the national president of the American Federation of Government Employees, has alleged that Trump’s executive order is a tactic to expand the White House’s control over the federal government.


The American Federation of Government employees has filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration.

According to USA Today, the federation is the largest union representing the interest of federal government workers. The lawsuit, filed last week in a D.C.-based federal court, challenges a January 20 executive order intended to increase accountability for so-called “policy-influencing positions” by revising hiring practices and termination policies.

“This scheme seeks to put politics over professionalism, contrary to the laws and values that have defined our career civil service for more than a century,” the lawsuit alleges.

Everett Kelley, the national president of the American Federation of Government Employees, has alleged that Trump’s executive order is a tactic to expand the White House’s control over the federal government.

“Together, we can stop the efforts to fire hundreds of thousands of experienced, hard-working Americans who have dedicated their careers to serving their country and prevent these career civil servants from being replaced with unqualified political flunkies loyal to the president, but not the law or Constitution,” Kelley said in a statement.

A 2013 image of Tesla and SpaceX founder and owner Elon Musk. Image via Flickr/user:heisenbergmedia. (CCA-BY-2.0).

Attorneys for the federation say that the Trump administration is in violation of varied regulations and has failed to follow the procedures necessary to issue new rules on federal hiring and firing.

USA Today notes that the President Trump and his allies appear to have anticipated a legal challenge, with the executive order stating that all employees and applicants affected by the order “are not required to personally or politically support the current President or the policies of the current administration.”

“They are required to faithfully implement administration policies to the best of their ability, consistent with their constitutional oath and the vesting of executive authority solely in the President,” the order says. “Failure to do is grounds for dismissal.”

The American Federation of Government Employees is being represented by lawyers from Democracy Forward and the law firm of Bredhoff and Kaiser PLLC.

“In just the nine days since Trump took office, his administration has repeatedly demonstrated a blatant disregard for the law in service of its political objectives. Its efforts to politicize the non-partisan, independent federal employees who protect our national and domestic security, ensure our food and medications are safe, deliver essential services to people and communities everywhere, and much more is simply and clearly illegal,” said Democracy Forward President and CEO Skye Perryman said in a statement. “Democracy Forward will continue to meet the Trump administration with legal challenges when it chooses to break the law and harm people and communities.”

Sources

‘Politics over professionalism’: Federal employees’ union sues Trump over executive order

Public Service Unions File Lawsuit Challenging Trump Administration Efforts to Politicize the Civil Service

Trump’s plan to reclassify, fire federal workers challenged by unions

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