Latest news with #ScottKupor
E&E News
2 days ago
- Politics
- E&E News
OPM guides new ‘Schedule G' political appointees into place
The Office of Personnel Management on Tuesday issued guidance for handling a new class of federal workers who will be more subject to the will of the White House. Dubbed 'Schedule G' employees, the class will increase the number of political appointees in policy-related positions who are exempt from traditional civil service requirements and protections. 'Schedule G brings needed flexibility to the process of appointing non-career policy roles across government, to ensure key policy-determining and policy-advocating positions are staffed in alignment with the administrationʼs priorities,' OPM Director Scott Kupor said in a statement. Advertisement The one-page guidance issued Tuesday elaborates on President Donald Trump's signing of Executive Order 14317 on July 17, which created the Schedule G classification.
Epoch Times
2 days ago
- Politics
- Epoch Times
New Guidelines Will Allow Federal Workers to Express Religious Belief at Workplace
The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) issued a memo on July 28 aimed at protecting religious expression among federal workers, allowing them to display religious items and discuss religion in the workplace. OPM Director Scott Kupor stated in the memo that federal agencies must ensure employees have the right to express their religious beliefs 'to the greatest extent possible,' in accordance with the Constitution, unless such expression would cause 'an undue hardship on business operations.'
CNN
3 days ago
- Politics
- CNN
Trump administration allows federal workers to promote religious beliefs
ReligionFacebookTweetLink Follow The Trump administration will allow federal workers to promote their religious beliefs to colleagues, display religious items at work and pray together or individually, according to a memorandum issued Monday by the Office of Personnel Management. The guidance, from OPM Director Scott Kupor, declares that federal agencies 'should allow personal religious expression by Federal employees to the greatest extent possible unless such expression would impose an undue hardship on business operations.' This means that a federal worker, according to the memorandum, 'may engage another in polite discussion of why his faith is correct and why the non-adherent should re-think his religious beliefs,' but 'if the nonadherent requests such attempts to stop, the employee should honor the request.' The memorandum lays out the caveat: 'provided that such efforts are not harassing in nature.' Federal workers will also be able to invite each other to religious services or pray in groups at the office when not on duty. Other examples of permitted religious activities listed by OPM state that a park ranger leading a tour through a national park is allowed to pray with a tour group or a doctor working at a Veterans Affairs hospital may pray over a patient. Workers may also display religious items on their desks. The memo advises agencies to review and, if needed, revise internal policies to ensure that they appropriately protect religious expression. Federal law already offers some protections for religious expression in the workplace. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 forbids employers from discriminating based on religion. They are required to make reasonable accommodations for their employees' religious practices and beliefs unless it would be an 'undue hardship' to do so. In a news release, Kupor said the idea is to make the federal workplace 'not just compliant … but welcoming to Americans of all faiths.' The memo, issued by what is essentially the human resources department of the federal government, is the Trump administration's latest efforts around religion. In May, the president created a Religious Liberty Commission, and, in February, he signed an executive order forming a task force to eradicate anti-Christian bias. 'We're bringing religion back to our country,' Trump promised at a prayer breakfast in Washington when he announced plans for the Religious Liberty Commission. CNN's Betsy Klein contributed to this report.
Time Magazine
3 days ago
- Politics
- Time Magazine
Trump Administration Lets Federal Employees Promote Religion at Work
Federal employees can talk about and promote their religion at work, the Trump Administration said in new guidance released on Monday. The memo, from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), outlines examples of 'permissible religious expression in the workplace.' It cites the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which protects the right to religious freedom and prevents the government from favoring a particular religion. 'Federal employees should never have to choose between their faith and their career,' OPM Director Scott Kupor said in a press release. 'This guidance ensures the federal workplace is not just compliant with the law but welcoming to Americans of all faiths. Under President Trump's leadership, we are restoring constitutional freedoms and making government a place where people of faith are respected, not sidelined.' The memo says federal workers can display and use religious items or icons at their desk, such as a Bible, rosary beads, or tefillin. Employees can also form a prayer group and gather for prayer or scripture study in the workplace, so long as they're not on duty at the time. And they can also 'engage in conversations regarding religious topics with fellow employees, including attempting to persuade others of the correctness of their own religious views, provided that such efforts are not harassing in nature,' according to the memo. OPM also lists in the memo instances in which federal employees can express their religious beliefs among or to members of the public—for instance, park rangers joining their national park tour groups in prayer or doctors at Veterans Affairs medical centers praying over patients for their recovery. The memo follows previous efforts by the Trump Administration to expand the presence or expression of religion in the federal workplace. Earlier this month, OPM released guidance telling agencies that they were 'encouraged to adopt a generous approach to approving religious accommodations' for remote work, after President Donald Trump had previously instructed federal employees to return to in-office work five days a week. In February, Trump signed an Executive Order aimed at 'eradicating anti-Christian bias' by calling on Administration officials to identify, end, and rectify 'any unlawful and improper conduct, policies, or practices that target Christians.' The order accuses the Biden Administration of having 'engaged in an egregious pattern of targeting peaceful Christians, while ignoring violent, anti-Christian offenses.'
Politico
3 days ago
- Politics
- Politico
Federal employees can pray and preach in the workplace under new Trump rules
'Federal employees should never have to choose between their faith and their career,' OPR Director Scott Kupor said in a statement outlining the policy. 'This guidance ensures the federal workplace is not just compliant with the law but welcoming to Americans of all faiths.' The White House also pointed to a memo with similar language and protections issued under former President Bill Clinton. Still, religious liberty advocates were disturbed. Mikey Weinstein, president and founder of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, said the guidelines appeared to be in conflict with the Constitution and the rights of workers. 'If your supervisor decides to sit down and make it very clear that it's important to her or him, that you accept this weaponized version of the gospel of Jesus Christ, what do you think your chances are for advancement?' Weinstein said. But Andrew Walker, an associate dean at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary said the new policy merely 'resets' the rules back to neutrality. 'I have no problem with it whatsoever,' Walker said. 'To me, that's simply reaffirming the First Amendment, that has proper caveats if you're not engaging in harassing behavior. I think this is just reiterating basic principles of the First Amendment.' President Donald Trump's administration has appeared to embrace religion to a significant degree, establishing a White House Faith Office, directing State Department employees to report anti-Christian bias from colleagues and issuing an executive order to create a presidential commission on religious liberty.
