Trump targets DEI and civil service protections, striking fear in some federal workers

(CNN) — President Donald Trump is targeting federal employees who focus on diversity, equity and inclusion and career policy staffers as he follows through on campaign promises to exert more control over the federal bureaucracy.

The moves, just days into his new administration, go after programs he’s long attacked and civil servants whom he feels blocked some of his key initiatives in his first term. But they’ve struck fear in federal workers and the unions that represent them, with employees worried about their jobs and their ability to carry out the missions that lured them into public service.

One executive order that sent shockwaves through the workforce on Monday calls for creating a category for federal employees involved in policy – known as Schedule F – that would make them easier to fire. Critics argue the measure, which is similar to one he signed in late 2020, is intended to ensure loyalty to the president.

That step was followed on Tuesday by the directive to place employees in any federal diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility offices on paid administrative leave, effective immediately, as the Trump administration moves to end such initiatives. Also, the Office of Personnel Management wants a list of any job or contract descriptions that were changed since the November election to hide their DEIA connections. Failure to report these changes could result in “adverse consequences,” according to emails that federal employees received Wednesday.

Trump’s other initial measures include requiring staffers to report to the office and asking for a list of employees still in their probationary period, who don’t have the same job protections.

The actions have raised the ire of federal workers’ unions, who contend that Trump’s main purpose is to cull the ranks.

The American Federation of Government Employees, which represents 750,000 workers, assailed the Trump administration’s announcement to close DEIA offices. The union does not know how many workers could be affected by the planned reduction-in-force action.

“The federal government already hires and promotes exclusively on the basis of merit,” AFGE National President Everett Kelley said in a statement Wednesday. “The results are clear: a diverse federal workforce that looks like the nation it serves, with the lowest gender and racial pay gaps in the country. We should all be proud of that.”

“Ultimately, these attacks on DEIA are just a smokescreen for firing civil servants, undermining the apolitical civil service, and turning the federal government into an army of yes-men loyal only to the president, not the Constitution,” he continued.

Trump’s efforts to reshape the federal workforce are expected to wind up in court, with one lawsuit already filed against the executive order creating Schedule F. Many of his other moves face other hurdles, including union contracts, and will take time to implement.

Anxious federal workers

Still, that’s of little comfort to employees already feeling the impact and others who expect to be affected soon. Several spoke to CNN but asked that their names not be used for fear of retaliation.

One Department of Homeland Security lawyer fears that the creation of Schedule F will make it harder for them to do their job properly. The lawyer, who has spent their entire career in public service, expects to be shifted to that category since they consult on national and local policy issues.

If that happens and they are stripped of the protections that civil service workers enjoy, the lawyer worries about being able to give their honest appraisal of the matters before them.

“After nearly 20 years of federal service, I have never felt this kind of anxiety about my job,” the lawyer, who lives in the Southwest with a spouse and two young children, said. “Being able to freely do my job with the feeling that I’m not going to be subject to reprisal, I feel like those days are gone once Schedule F is implemented.”

Meanwhile, a Maryland resident who works fully remotely for the US Department of Agriculture is worried that having to return to the office will force them to give up “the best job I ever had” because it would entail an up-to-two-hour commute each way.

But also of great concern is the impact of potential staffing cuts on the projects they are working on to improve federal nutrition programs, such as the National School Lunch Program and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, known as WIC, which serve millions of Americans.

“I am anxious to say the least about what will happen to this work and the people who depend on it if I, and others, lose their jobs,” said the USDA worker, who is married with four young children.

Some federal employees, however, are taking a more defiant stand.

One Department of Veterans Affairs worker who thinks they would be shifted to the Schedule F category is worried about being put in a position that would conflict with their personal values and beliefs. But if that happens, they said they would either find another job or wait to be fired.

“I won’t succumb to the chilling effect,” said the Washington, DC, metro area resident, who previously worked in the private sector. To “be a political martyr would be a new experience for me.”

The-CNN-Wire
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