Latest news with #federalemployees
CTV News
a day ago
- Politics
- CTV News
U.S. to allow federal workers to promote religion in workplaces
U.S. and agency flags fly outside the U.S. Office of Personnel Management in Washington on Feb. 13, 2024. (Mark Schiefelbein / AP Photo) WASHINGTON - Federal employees may discuss and promote their religious beliefs in the workplace, the Trump administration said on Monday, citing religious freedoms protected by the U.S. Constitution. Agency employees may seek to 'persuade others of the correctness of their own religious views' in the office, wrote Scott Kupor, director of the Office of Personnel Management, the U.S. government's human resources agency. Supervisors can attempt to recruit their employees to their religion, so long as the efforts aren't 'harassing in nature,' according to Kupor's statement. Agencies can't discipline their employees for declining to talk to their coworkers about their religious views. The statement represents the latest effort of the six-month-old Republican Trump administration to expand the role of religion in the federal workplace. Courts have long held that employers cannot suppress all religious expression in the workplace, but can lawfully curb conduct that is disruptive or imposes an undue hardship as long as it applies equally to members of any religion. The U.S. Constitution's First Amendment protects individuals' rights to practice their religion while preventing the government from favoring one religion or another or religion in general. OPM in mid-July said agency workers can get permission to work from home or adjust their hours to accommodate religious prayers, after previously demanding that workers report to offices fulltime. The new statement cites President Donald Trump's February executive order calling on agencies to eliminate the 'anti-Christian weaponization of government.' That order directs cabinet secretaries to identify federal actions hostile to Christians. Trump has embraced the conservative Christian world view and promoted policies that speak to concerns that their religious liberty is under attack. Federal employees can also set up prayer groups in the workplace, so long as they don't meet during work hours, Kupor's statement said. The memo references Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, a law that prohibits workplace discrimination based on a person's religion or religious practices. Kupor in the memo said that means the law requires employers to allow workers to proselytize, organize prayer groups on non-working time, and display religious icons. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which enforces Title VII, has said that proselytizing in the workplace can amount to unlawful religious harassment if it is unwelcome and is so severe or pervasive that it creates a hostile or abusive work environment. 'A consensual conversation about religious views, even if quite spirited, does not constitute harassment if it is not unwelcome,' the agency said in a 2008 guidance document. Kupor's memo is not legally binding, and any court that reviews it could disagree about the scope of Title VII's protections. But the memo could be difficult to challenge directly in court, as judges in many past cases have said they lack the power to review internal agency documents. (Reporting by Courtney Rozen; Editing by Howard Goller) Courtney Rozen and Daniel Wiessner, Reuters
The Guardian
19-07-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Trump signs order creating new federal worker classification for at-will, political appointees
Trump signed an executive order on Thursday creating a new classification of federal employees who would be subject to hiring and firing by the president, Schedule G, for employees working on policy, in the latest action by his administration to reshape the federal workforce. The non-career classified employees will be expected to leave in changing presidential administrations, with the order claiming it will 'improve operations, particularly in agencies like the Department of Veterans Affairs, by streamlining appointments for key policy roles'. The order did not cite how many employees would fall under the new classification. 'President Trump is delivering on his promise to dismantle the deep state and reclaim our government from Washington corruption,' the White House said in a fact sheet on the order. The classification appears similar to Schedule C, which refers to temporary federal employees working on policy issues. 'We already have Schedule F (turning career civil servants into at-will employees). Now Trump is announcing Schedule G: Opens space at top ranks of govt for Trump loyalists as policymakers, with no limit on hires. Continues pattern of politicization,' wrote Don Moynihan, a public policy professor at the University of Michigan, on social media in response to the executive order. Schedule F, which Trump tried to implement near the end of his first term in office, was revived earlier this year. It strips civil service protections afforded to other federal employee classifications, making it easier to fire these employees at-will. Since Trump took office, his administration has sought to strip civil service protections for large swaths of federal employees, eliminate collective bargaining rights, and make it easier for the administration to fire federal employees at-will and without cause. Culling the civil service is a key plank of Project 2025, the conservative manifesto that outlined plans for a second Trump administration. In each agency chapter, the project suggests ways to make more positions political appointments instead of nonpartisan career roles, forming a federal government more beholden to its executive and less likely to push back. Max Stier, the president and CEO of the Partnership for Public Service, said the new classification is 'another misguided attempt by the administration to further politicize the federal workforce'. The new classification will make the civil service system more confusing, he said, adding that the president can already make hundreds of political appointments through Schedule C and other existing authorities. 'At the end of the day, the main mission of our government is to serve and protect the public,' Stier said. 'Our nonpartisan civil service is critical to keeping the services we rely on running continuously, even when political administrations change. Adding even more political appointees – who will only be in government for a few years – means that effective, stable service delivery will suffer. It's the American people who will pay the ultimate price.'
E&E News
18-07-2025
- Politics
- E&E News
Trump executive order adds loyal ‘horsepower' to agencies
President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday that creates a new class of federal employees who might help tighten his grip on the government's policymaking apparatus. The executive order sets up Schedule G, a new classification for workers who will not be career civil servants and will be expected to exit their positions when the president who appointed them leaves the White House. Schedule G employees will 'help faithfully implement the President's policy agenda,' a White House fact sheet said, enhancing efficiency and services 'by increasing the horsepower for agency implementation of Administration policy.' Advertisement Don Kettl, professor emeritus and former dean of the University of Maryland School of Public Policy, told POLITICO's E&E News, 'The inevitable result of creating Schedule G is creating the ability to vastly increase the number of political appointees throughout the executive branch.'
The Guardian
18-07-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Trump signs order creating new federal worker classification for at-will, political appointees
Trump signed an executive order on 17 July creating a new classification of federal employees who would be subject to hiring and firing by the president, Schedule G, for employees working on policy, in the latest action by his administration to reshape the federal workforce. The non-career classified employees will be expected to leave in changing presidential administrations, with the order claiming it will 'improve operations, particularly in agencies like the Department of Veterans Affairs, by streamlining appointments for key policy roles'. The order did not cite how many employees would fall under the new classification. 'President Trump is delivering on his promise to dismantle the deep state and reclaim our government from Washington corruption,' the White House said in a fact sheet on the order. The classification appears similar to Schedule C, which refers to temporary federal employees working on policy issues. 'We already have Schedule F (turning career civil servants into at-will employees). Now Trump is announcing Schedule G: Opens space at top ranks of govt for Trump loyalists as policymakers, with no limit on hires. Continues pattern of politicization,' wrote Don Moynihan, a public policy professor at the University of Michigan, on social media in response to the executive order. Schedule F, which Trump tried to implement near the end of his first term in office, was revived earlier this year. It strips civil service protections afforded to other federal employee classifications, making it easier to fire these employees at-will. Since Trump took office, his administration has sought to strip civil service protections for large swaths of federal employees, eliminate collective bargaining rights, and make it easier for the administration to fire federal employees at-will and without cause. Culling the civil service is a key plank of Project 2025, the conservative manifesto that outlined plans for a second Trump administration. In each agency chapter, the project suggests ways to make more positions political appointments instead of nonpartisan career roles, forming a federal government more beholden to its executive and less likely to push back. Max Stier, the president and CEO of the Partnership for Public Service, said the new classification is 'another misguided attempt by the administration to further politicize the federal workforce'. The new classification will make the civil service system more confusing, he said, adding that the president can already make hundreds of political appointments through Schedule C and other existing authorities. 'At the end of the day, the main mission of our government is to serve and protect the public,' Stier said. 'Our nonpartisan civil service is critical to keeping the services we rely on running continuously, even when political administrations change. Adding even more political appointees – who will only be in government for a few years – means that effective, stable service delivery will suffer. It's the American people who will pay the ultimate price.'
E&E News
16-07-2025
- Business
- E&E News
OPM swears in new director
Scott Kupor officially assumed his role as director of the Office of Personnel Management on Tuesday, as the Trump administration prepares to move forward with firing thousands of federal employees. Kupor said he would prioritize President Donald Trump's 'America-first agenda' by focusing on stewarding taxpayer resources and ensuring federal agencies are equipped with 'efficiency and integrity.' 'I am honored by the Senate's confirmation and grateful to President Trump for entrusting me with this opportunity to serve,' Kupor said in a news release. 'My commitment is to empower these dedicated public servants with the tools, systems, and leadership they deserve, building a high-performing, accountable, and mission-driven workforce that upholds the trust of every taxpayer.' Advertisement Kupor's takeover comes just a week after the Supreme Court paved the way for the Trump administration to resume laying off thousands of federal workers.
