WASHINGTON • United States civil servants could face a mass firing under an executive order before President Donald Trump leaves office, and Democratic lawmakers, watchdog groups and unions are mobilising to block the move.
Leaders of 23 House committees and subcommittees asked the heads of 61 federal departments and agencies to provide a "full accounting" of any plans to reclassify federal workers under the Oct 21 order, leaving them vulnerable to firing.
They also asked for details about any Trump political appointees who have already been hired into career jobs or are being considered.
Initial responses are due on Dec 9, followed by biweekly updates, according to the letter, spearheaded by Oversight and Reform Committee chair Carolyn Maloney.
Wednesday's letter came after 13 House Democrats, including Mr Gerry Connolly, chairman of the House Subcommittee on Government Operations, and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, on Tuesday urged appropriators to reverse the order in their next spending Bill.
Mr Trump's order allows agencies to reclassify workers involved in policymaking into a new "Schedule F" category without the job protections they have now.
He wants to streamline the federal bureaucracy, increase accountability and make it easier to clear out "poor performers".
The federal government employs about two million people in total.
Critics call the move part of an ongoing assault on government bureaucracy that has drained expertise and skills during the Trump administration.
Creating the new category of workers would expose the civil service to "undue political influence and intimidation", the committee chairs warned in their letter.
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2m
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Number of people employed by the US federal government.
61
Number of federal bodies whose heads have been asked to provide a "full accounting" of plans to reclassify staff under the Oct 21 executive order.
In Tuesday's letter, Democrats said that the order would "expedite the hiring of political appointees into jobs without regard to merit and place them in roles best served by career civil servants - including economists, scientists and data analysts".
House and Senate Democrats separately asked the non-partisan, congressional Government Accountability Office this week to monitor the implementation of the order, warning that it could result in "a mass exodus" of federal employees in coming weeks.
The White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has requested to reclassify 88 per cent of its workforce of 425 workers into the new category, Real Clear Politics reported this week.
OMB did not respond to repeated requests for information.
REUTERS
