1. United States
2. Mo.
3. Letter

I am writing to express my deep opposition to the Trump administration’s continued assault on federal employees and the federal civil service. The latest changes to Reduction in Force procedures and employee appeals are yet another example of an administration that appears determined to weaken the protections that have governed our federal workforce for generations. The new rules finalized by the Office of Personnel Management are deeply troubling. Beginning September 2, performance ratings will become the primary factor in determining which federal employees are retained during a reduction in force, while tenure and seniority are relegated largely to tiebreakers. At the same time, certain RIF appeals that were previously handled by the independent Merit Systems Protection Board will instead be handled within OPM itself. That combination should concern every member of Congress who believes in a professional, politically neutral civil service. Federal employees should not have to wonder whether an unfavorable performance rating could suddenly determine whether they keep their careers, particularly when performance evaluations can be subjective and potentially manipulated. Years of dedicated federal service, experience, institutional knowledge, and seniority should not simply be pushed aside in favor of a system that gives management dramatically greater power over who stays and who goes. Even more concerning is the decision to move certain appeals away from the Merit Systems Protection Board and into OPM. The MSPB exists as an independent forum for protecting federal employees from arbitrary or unlawful personnel actions. Moving appeals into the same agency responsible for administering personnel policies raises serious questions about independence and due process. These changes cannot be viewed in isolation. They come after years of actions by this administration aimed at shrinking the federal workforce, weakening employee protections, undermining collective bargaining, and giving political leadership greater control over career civil servants. I especially condemn the role of Russell Vought in this broader effort. As Director of the Office of Management and Budget, Vought has been a central figure in the administration’s workforce reduction agenda. The federal workforce is not an enemy that needs to be dismantled. These are Americans who administer Social Security, protect our borders, inspect food and medicine, maintain our national parks, collect taxes, process veterans’ benefits, enforce federal law, protect consumers, and provide countless other services on which the American people depend. Government employees should not be treated as disposable simply because an administration wants to reduce the size of government or exert greater political control over the federal workforce. I urge you to stand up for the federal employees who serve the American people every day. Congress must provide meaningful oversight of these changes and ensure that reductions in force are based on legitimate workforce needs, not political retaliation, subjective evaluations, or an ideological desire to purge the career civil service. I also urge you to defend the independence of the Merit Systems Protection Board and the fundamental due process rights of federal employees. A system in which the administration can change the rules for determining who is fired and then move the appeals process into an executive agency controlled by that same administration is not a system that should be accepted without serious congressional scrutiny. The federal civil service belongs to the American people, not to any president, political party, or administration. Please use your position in Congress to oppose this continued assault on federal employees and to defend a professional, independent, merit based civil service. I ask that you take this matter seriously and work to hold the Trump administration and Russell Vought accountable for policies that undermine the federal workforce and the protections Congress established for federal employees.