Judge Halts Politicized Hiring Scheme That Threatened the Nonpartisan Civil Service
Boston — A federal court today blocked the Trump administration from using its unlawful “loyalty question” on federal civil service job applications, stopping an unprecedented attempt to compel applicants for civil service positions to profess their loyalty to the president.
The lawsuit, brought by the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), and the National Association of Government Employees (NAGE), challenges the Office of Personnel Management’s (OPM) decision to require applicants for non-political federal jobs to write essays about President Trump’s executive orders or policy priorities. The court found that allowing this practice to continue would cause irreparable harm to workers applying to the merit-based civil service. Plaintiffs are represented by Democracy Forward, Protect Democracy, and Keker, Van Nest & Peters LLP.
Over 70,000 federal job postings have included the loyalty question, compelling applicants to speak about political issues and chilling other applicants’ speech, undermining the merit-based hiring system.
“This is a major win for public service workers and the communities we serve,” said AFSCME President Patrick Moran. “These ‘loyalty questions’ are a blatantly illegal attempt to hire partisan cronies who would endanger our communities by putting politics before people, rather than dedicated, qualified public service workers. Protecting the integrity of a nonpartisan, professional civil service is essential to the health and safety of our communities. AFSCME members will continue to fight the administration’s attacks on the public services we all depend on to thrive.”
“Requiring federal job applicants to answer politically motivated questions goes against the very nature of the nonpartisan civil service, and we are pleased the judge has put an immediate stop to the administration’s loyalty questions. Federal employees should be hired based solely on their ability to perform the job – not their allegiance to any particular administration,” AFGE National President Everett Kelley said.
“This is a major win for public service workers and the communities we serve,” saidAFSCME President Patrick Moran. “These ‘loyalty questions’ are a blatantly illegal attempt to hire partisan cronies who would endanger our communities by putting politics before people, rather than dedicated, qualified public service workers. Protecting the integrity of a nonpartisan, professional civil service is essential to the health and safety of our communities. AFSCME members will continue to fight the administration’s attacks on the public services we all depend on to thrive.”
“Today’s ruling makes clear that hiring in the federal workforce cannot be turned into a political loyalty question,” said David J. Holway, National President of the National Association of Government Employees. “Federal jobs are not political rewards, and public service is not conditioned on allegiance to a president. When political loyalty becomes a prerequisite for public service, it erodes public trust and weakens democracy itself. Unions are a critical line of defense in protecting a professional, nonpartisan public workforce grounded in fairness, neutrality, and the rule of law.”
“For more than a century, civil servants have been hired based on their merits, not based on allegiance to a partisan political agenda,” said Skye Perryman, President and CEO of Democracy Forward. “Today’s decision – stopping the Trump-Vance administration’s required loyalty question for public servants – reaffirms the importance of a nonpartisan civilian workforce that serves the American people. This ruling protects the Constitution, the civil service, and the people who depend on a professional, nonpartisan federal workforce.”
“Today’s decision re-affirms that hiring for federal civil service jobs should be based on merit, and not political loyalty,” said Ori Lev, Special Counsel at Protect Democracy.“Federal civil servants provide essential services to the American people and we should be hiring the best and the brightest, not those who appear most loyal to the president. We are grateful that the Court stopped the administration’s unconstitutional and harmful action while the case proceeds.”
“Today’s decision is a critical reminder that the Trump administration is not above the law,” Warren Braunig, partner at Keker, Van Nest & Peters, said. “The Loyalty Question is irreconcilable with the First Amendment, the Administrative Procedure Act, and more than a century of Congress’s commitment to a professional, nonpartisan civil service. The Court’s ruling protects millions of current and future public servants from compelled political speech and unlawful viewpoint discrimination.”
The court’s order prevents OPM from enforcing its directive that agencies include the loyalty question on civil service job applications while the case proceeds. The lawsuit argues that the unlawful requirement violates the First Amendment, the Administrative Procedure Act, and the Privacy Act by compelling political speech, chilling speech, enabling viewpoint discrimination, and unlawfully collecting information about applicants’ political beliefs.
The case is American Federation of Government Employees et al. v. Office of Personnel Management et al.
Read the decision here.