Friday, May 25, 2018
Washington, D.C. – Today, the National Federation of Federal Employees (NFFE), representing over 100,000 federal workers, expressed outrage after President trump signs three Executive Orders, all of which aim to decimate the principles of an apolitical federal civil service. Together, the practical application of the executive orders creates a culture of fear and intimidation to silence critics and whistleblowers within the Executive Branch to pursue a more vibrant political agenda.
The executive orders cover three areas: 1) revoking federal employees’ ability to provide advocacy services to agencies under official time, 2) providing the authority to terminate employees at-will, and 3) reducing collective bargaining to theoretical irrelevance.
NFFE National President Randy Erwin provided this statement:
“Today President Trump declared war on America’s civil servants. Regardless of the extremely weak arguments he gives to end a century of progress for the nation’s professional civil service, it is obvious his aim is to create a culture of fear within the federal government in order to advance a political agenda in the Executive Branch. By taking away the systematic safeguards that keep purely political or corrupt forces at bay, he creates the Wild West in the Executive Branch. This is an assault on the American people, it is an assault on the middle class, and it is an assault on American ideals. It is shameless.”