Latest news with #SeniorExecutiveService
American Military News
3 days ago
- Politics
- American Military News
Trump admin unveils Constitution training course for top gov't employees
President Donald Trump's administration is preparing to launch a new 80-hour training course on the U.S. Constitution and the government's 'founding ideals' for Senior Executive Service employees. According to an Office of Personnel and Management memo obtained by Real Clear Politics, the syllabus for the Trump administration's new training course includes an emphasis on the U.S. Constitution, 'Founding ideals of our government,' and the 47th president's executive orders. Real Clear Politics reported that the U.S. Office of Personnel and Management's new training program will require individuals who want to become Senior Executive Service employees to complete 80 hours of video training. The outlet noted that the training will conclude with two days of in-person training in Washington, D.C. The Office of Personnel and Management's website states that Senior Executive Service employees 'serve in key positions just below top Presidential appointees.' The website describes Senior Executive Service employees as the 'major link' between presidential appointees and the rest of the government's workforce. The website adds, 'They operate and oversee nearly every government activity in approximately 75 Federal agencies.' READ MORE: Video: Canada 'considering' offer to become 51st state for free Golden Dome, Trump says According to Real Clear Politics, the new Office of Personnel and Management's training for Senior Executive Service employees is expected to launch in September and will affect agencies throughout the federal government under the Trump administration. The memo obtained by Real Clear Politics explained that the goal of the new training is to 'ensure that SES officials uphold the Constitution and the rule of law and effectively serve the American people.' Real Clear Politics reported that the memo outlining the upcoming training course for Senior Executive Service employees is part of the Office of Personnel and Management's 'Executive Core Qualifications.' The outlet noted that diversity, equity, and inclusion metrics have been removed by the Trump administration and that new Senior Executive Service employees will be selected on competence, merit, and 'dedication to our Nation's Founding ideals.' According to the memo, the Trump administration is also planning to require each agency's Executive Review Boards to add a majority of employees who have not served as career government employees. Real Clear Politics reported that the Executive Review Boards handle the hiring, assessment, and management of Senior Executive Service employees. The memo noted, 'These requirements ensure that effective implementation of the President's policies is at the forefront of agency executive management decisions.'
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Trump Admin Institutes 80-Hour Constitution Course for ‘Deep State' Execs
As the administration continues to remake the federal bureaucracy to President Trumps liking, the Office of Personnel and Management has developed an intensive new training program for those aspiring to join the Senior Executive Service, the upper echelon of government employees. Per an OPM memo, obtained first by RealClearPolitics, the syllabus includes course work grounded in the U.S. Constitution, "Founding ideals of our government," and Trumps own executive orders. The development program requires 80 hours of video-based training and culminates in two days of in-person training in Washington, D.C. It will affect government employees across the administration and disparate agencies and go live this September. The stated goal: "Ensure that SES officials uphold the Constitution and the rule of law and effectively serve the American people." This is the latest effort in the ongoing campaign to crush what the White House sees as an unaccountable administrative state. Trump began slashing and burning his way through the agencies as soon as he returned to office, with a particular emphasis on the Senior Executive Service. Normally little-noticed and non-controversial, they are the elite of career civil servants who serve just below presidential appointees and wield tremendous influence over federal levers of power. To those on the right, this makes the SES the Praetorian Guard of an allegedly rogue bureaucracy that gave the president fits during his first term. Trump officials felt that they were repeatedly thwarted by bureaucrats who either slow walked his agenda or outright refused to implement his policies. "Either the Deep State destroys America," Trump declared during his first major rally of his last campaign, "or we destroy the Deep State." His White House sees it as a question fundamental to self-government. "If the bureaucracy is in charge," asked Elon Musk earlier this year in the Oval Office, "then what meaning does democracy actually have?" The White House moved quickly to answer that question by attempting to eradicate the "deep state." Trump stripped SES employees of civil service protections, mandated new standards, and fired many of them during his first 100 days in office. Now his administration seeks a new crop of replacements in line with his policy and more accepting of his maximalist vision of executive authority. Hence the training, and what the OPM memo describes as "new Executive Core Qualifications." Diversity, equity, and inclusion metrics are out. Evaluation of potential hires will, instead, be according to merit, competence, and "dedication to our Nations Founding ideals." The identity of the author of the new curriculum was not clear as of press time. The general parameters of the core qualifications, however, include a commitment to the rule of law, which the memo defines as "upholding the principles of the American Founding, including equality under the law and democratic self-government." The overture to the American founding comes ahead of the national semi-quincentennial, or 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, and after nearly half a decade of dramatic disagreement over what those ideals mean. Democracy itself has been up for debate, with Democrats alleging that Trump represents an existential threat to that form of government. The memo also outlines a streamlined hiring process, including minute details. The 10-page narrative essays required of interviewees will be struck from the application process and resumes limited to just two pages. Perhaps most significant, the administration will require every agency to add a majority of non-career federal employees to their Executive Review Boards, which are responsible for assessment, hiring, and management of senior civil servants. This too is intended as a step toward democratization. "These requirements ensure that effective implementation of the Presidents policies is at the forefront of agency executive management decisions," the memo says. Philip Wegmann is White House correspondent for RealClearPolitics.
Yahoo
10-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
DOJ drug, organized crime task force chief fired
The head of a Justice Department task force dealing with organized crime and drug trafficking was fired by the Trump administration Friday, and he indicated he believes politics may have played a role. Adam Cohen said he was fired by acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove after spending weeks working with the Trump team on a new memo concerning the task force. 'Less than 24 hours ago, I received a two-sentence memorandum addressed to me from the Deputy Attorney General (DAG). It stated that I had been removed from my Senior Executive Service position and that pursuant to Article II of the Constitution, my employment with the U.S. Department of Justice was terminated,' Cohen wrote on LinkedIn. 'It was a shock. I had met with the Acting DAG every Tuesday evening (including 3 days before) to talk about important violent crime initiatives. I had spent last weekend editing a memorandum sent out under the DAG's signature 18 hours before my termination.' 'My personal politics were never relevant. Not until yesterday,' Cohen also wrote in the post. 'Putting bad guys in jail was as apolitical as it gets.' The Justice Department on Thursday sent out a memo referencing Cohen's task force, saying it would combine the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces with the Project Safe Neighborhoods Program. Together, the new entity would be called Operation Take Back America. The memo, signed by Bove, also stresses the need to combat illegal immigration and instructs prosecutors to charge the most serious, 'readily provable' offenses. Cohen spent a little more than a year working in the Biden White House as the deputy director of National Drug Control Policy, but he previously served as director of the task force in the prior Trump administration, tapped to lead it in 2018. The Hill has reached out to the Justice Department. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The Hill
10-03-2025
- Politics
- The Hill
DOJ drug, organized crime task force chief fired
The head of a Justice Department task force dealing with organized crime and drug trafficking was fired by the Trump administration Friday, and he indicated he believes politics may have played a role. Adam Cohen said he was fired by acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove after spending weeks working with the Trump team on a new memo concerning the task force. 'Less than 24 hours ago, I received a two-sentence memorandum addressed to me from the Deputy Attorney General (DAG). It stated that I had been removed from my Senior Executive Service position and that pursuant to Article II of the Constitution, my employment with the U.S. Department of Justice was terminated,' Cohen wrote on LinkedIn. 'It was a shock. I had met with the Acting DAG every Tuesday evening (including 3 days before) to talk about important violent crime initiatives. I had spent last weekend editing a memorandum sent out under the DAG's signature 18 hours before my termination.' 'My personal politics were never relevant. Not until yesterday,' Cohen also wrote in the post. 'Putting bad guys in jail was as apolitical as it gets.' The Justice Department on Thursday sent out a memo referencing Cohen's task force, saying it would combine the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces with the Project Safe Neighborhoods Program. Together, the new entity would be called Operation Take Back America. The memo, signed by Bove, also stresses the need to combat illegal immigration and instructs prosecutors to charge the most serious, 'readily provable' offenses. The Hill has reached out to DOJ.
Yahoo
13-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
VA bans gay pride flags in offices, staff cubicles, parking lots, storage areas and more
Feb. 13 (UPI) -- LGBTQ pride flags are banned at Veteran's Administration facilities, according to a Wednesday memo posted by VA Secretary Douglas Collins. The memo said, "This guidance rescinds the Secretary's Flying The Flag During Pride Month Memorandum, dated May 24, 2024 ..." The pride flag was the only flag singled out for banning found in the memo. The ban includes "public displays" or "depictions of flags by VA employees including but not limited to individual offices, cubicles, government vehicles, office buildings, recreational areas, medical centers, storage rooms, kitchens and restrooms. According to the memo, the pride flag ban includes "all spaces or items in public or plain view outside of a VA facility." According to the memo, "All veterans and VA beneficiaries will always be welcome at all VA facilities to receive the benefits and services they have earned under the law." However, the new rules don't address veterans seeking VA services while wearing gay-pride imagery. Republican members of Congress were unsuccessful in recent years at prohibiting LGBTQ pride flags at VA locations, but Trump's VA has now barred the flags. The memo does not ban pride flags at veteran's graves overseen by the National Cemetery Administration. The memo outlines the flags that have been deemed acceptable. They include U.S. state and territories flags, military service flags, VA flags, official branded flags if U.S. agencies are presidentially appointed, Senate-confirmed flags, prisoner of war/missing in action flags, Senior Executive Service and Military Department-specific SES flags, ceremonial, command, unit, or branch flags and burial flags to honor a veteran or reservist.
