The Biden administration, in its infinite wisdom and with a flair for the dramatic bureaucratic shuffle, has decided to put a spanner in the works for any future administrations getting too trigger-happy with the federal employee firing button. Through the almighty powers vested in the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM), they’ve concocted a rule that essentially says, “Not so fast!” to the prospect of clearing out civil servants with the ease of swiping left on a bad dating profile.
Unveiled last Thursday with the pomp and circumstance typical of a governmental press release, this new rule is like bureaucratic bubble wrap around federal employees, making it harder to pop them out of their positions. The regulation is designed to complicate and lengthen the process of reclassifying federal employees into positions from which they could be more readily dismissed.
“Career federal employees are essential in providing critical services to Americans across the nation,” said OPM Director Kiran Ahuja in a news release. According to Ahuja, the final rule is a tribute to the 2.2 million career civil servants. It ensures that employment decisions are made based on merit, allowing them to perform their roles based on expertise rather than political affiliation.
Ahuja added that the Biden-Harris Administration is profoundly committed to the federal workforce, recognizing these individuals as crucial to the nation’s security, health, economic well-being, and more. This new rule ensures that civil servants are hired and fired based on their job performance rather than their political affiliations or RSVP lists.
This regulation is a response to a 2020 executive order by then-President Donald Trump, who thought it would be a neat idea to make it easier to hire and fire federal workers, introducing the world to “Schedule F”—not to be confused with “F” in the chat, although the sentiment might be similar.
Rob Shriver, OPM Deputy Director, emphasized to journalists that the rule ensures that the American public can depend on federal employees to utilize their skills and knowledge in their roles, irrespective of their political views. Because, you know, nothing says “trust in government,” like ensuring it’s tough to fire anyone.
Ready to hit the Federal Register like a new single dropping on Spotify, this rule is the administration’s latest hit in their greatest hits album, ensuring employment decisions in the federal sector are as insulated from political winds as possible. After all, merit-based employment decisions are the cornerstone of bureaucracy—a concept as American as apple pie, baseball, and, apparently, making simple things complicated for the sake of job security.
By instituting this rule through the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM), the Biden administration has taken a crucial step toward fortifying civil service employees against politically motivated dismissals.
The purpose of this initiative is to counteract the potential consequences of Trump’s former executive order, which could have severe ramifications if he manages to secure victory and return to the Oval Office. The Biden administration doesn’t want him firing all their new hires. The OPM’s new rule seeks to guarantee that federal employment decisions are made impartially, based on merit rather than political considerations.
The Biden administration stated that the new rule will underscore the ongoing commitment to preserve the integrity and impartiality of the U.S. civil service system amid a political environment that has witnessed attempts to alter the longstanding protections of civil servants.
At the end of the day, this new rule doesn’t just protect jobs; it elevates the act of firing someone to an art form, requiring not just a decision but a quest worthy of a Homeric epic. The future administrations will need more than a simple “You’re fired” to reshape the federal workforce. They’ll need patience, perseverance, and perhaps a minor in bureaucratic studies.
