GOP civil service overhaul effort violates reconciliation rules

An attempt from Republicans to remove civil service protections for newly hired federal employees now faces a higher obstacle under GOP reconciliation bill. The Senate parliamentarian on Sunday marked several provisions of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee’s portion of the “One Big, Beautiful Bill” as violations of reconciliation rules. One of those provisions sought to make all new federal employees choose between becoming an at-will employee and taking on a 5% increase in their contribution rate to the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS), or keeping their civil service…

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Cuts to civil service protections remain in Senate committee’s reconciliation proposal

Despite taking some proposed cuts to federal benefits off the table, the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee is still looking to remove civil service job protections for federal employees as part of the GOP reconciliation process. The Senate committee’s proposal for the “One Big, Beautiful Bill,” released Thursday, kept three of four key sections impacting the federal workforce that House lawmakers passed last month. HSGAC’s legislative text also made a handful of revisions and added several new provisions not seen in the House’s version. In total, the committee…

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Boiling the frog: How civil servants are being politicized before our eyes

Despite herculean efforts by its Democratic sponsors, a statutory ban on the Trump administration’s controversial Schedule F failed in the last session of Congress, and the chances of it passing in the next two years are now less than zero. As many readers know, Schedule F would have made political loyalty to a particular elected official (in this instance, former President Donald Trump) the litmus test for the retention of thousands of career civil servants in the federal government’s Executive Branch. That’s scary, especially to me, and I resigned from…

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EXCLUSIVE: Rand Paul Urges Whistleblowers to Expose Biden Administration Abuses of Civil Liberties

Sen. Rand Paul sharply criticized the “politicized” FBI and the Department of Justice, calling for more whistleblowers to expose government trampling of American liberties.  “I think anytime someone is breaking the law in government, it’s a good idea to hear about it,” the Kentucky Republican said in a Thursday interview with The Daily Signal. “And so, frankly, yes, I think it is a good idea for people to reveal when the government’s breaking the rules.” Paul’s remarks follow news that the head of the FBI’s Criminal and Counterterrorism divisions reportedly…

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