Impersonating a federal officer or employee is a crime. 18 U.S. Code § 912
(technically you have to obtain a document, money, or other thing of value to run afoul of that particular law, but getting a reply to a successful spoof might qualify, and who knows whatever other laws it might violate, 25 CFR § 11.432 perhaps).
"Employees who accept deferred resignation should promptly have their duties re-assigned or eliminated and be placed on paid administrative leave until the end of the deferred resignation period (generally, September 30, 2025, unless the employee has elected another earlier resignation date), unless the agency head determines that it is necessary for the employee to be actively engaged in transitioning job duties, in which case employees should be placed on administrative leave as soon as those duties are transitioned."
Note: This is pretty much every single one of the federal employees (2.2 million) other than: "military personnel of the armed forces, employees of the U.S. Postal Service, those in positions related to immigration enforcement and national security, and those in other positions specifically excluded by your employing agency."
The quotes are predictably demeaning: Am I allowed to get a second job?
"Absolutely! We encourage you to find a job in the private sector as soon as you would like to do so. The way to greater American prosperity is encouraging people to move from lower productivity jobs in the public sector to higher productivity jobs in the private sector."
Poster (YouDoHaveValue) on Reddit had a pretty great take:
Typical indicators of a scam:
- Sounds too good to be true
- Urgent requests or threats, FOMO
- Spelling / grammar errors
- Payments via unconventional / insecure means
- Links or attachments prompting you to provide personal information
"Last week, federal employees across the government received emails encouraging them to turn in colleagues who they believed to be working on diversity, equity, inclusion, and access initiatives (DEIA) to the OPM via the email address DEIAtruth@opm.gov"
Also, this story seems to have sank remarkably quickly...
Federal employees have statutory no-cause termination protection, and the President presumably can't simply reclassify the federal workforce as "at-will".
Article II says: “The executive Power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America.” I doubt it’s constitutional for employment law to preclude the president from firing any executive branch employee.
It’s quite possible it’s constitutional to have contractual remedies for termination. I suspect that’s why there’s an 8 month severance.
I mean, if you want to see him set the land-speed record on getting a TRO, beating today's performance, by all means let's see him try. Your guess is good as mine which way Gorsuch and Kavanaugh will go on admin-law/separation-of-powers issues. Maybe it'll be resolved before the midterms!
My read of this is that no 8-month severance has been offered, for whatever that's worth.
The thing that's interesting to me is how the Trump Republicans used tactics so effectively to accuse the Dems, "deep state", etc. of all this nefarious conduct, and then explicitly embraced that conduct as openly and vigorously as possible. E.g accuse career civil servants of being secretly partisan, and then explicitly kick out anyone who isn't loyal to Trump and demand Trump loyalty, countering ~150 years of American policy. Accuse Democrats of stealing an election, and then attempt to violently overturn the results of an election after essentially every claim of election malfeasance was laughed out of court.
Even how they painted Biden's pardons was pretty brilliant IMO. Trump had already pretty much telegraphed that he would pardon anyone who kissed up to him, and had been explicit about how he would use federal power to seek revenge. So while I was very much against Biden's pardon of his family, I'm sure Biden was probably like "F this shizz, it's not like holding the moral high ground is doing anyone any favors." But now, of course, anyone with Trump's blessing will get a pardon regardless of what they do, and they can point to Biden's pardons as "Dems did it first".
I think we are truly and surely fucked in the mid-long term - what we're going through looks pretty much exactly what all previous empires looked like when they fell into decline. It's just kind of stunning to watch with so much transparency.
> The federal workforce should be comprised of employees who are reliable, loyal, trustworthy, and who strive for excellence in their daily work. Employees will be subject to enhanced standards of suitability and conduct as we move forward.
Has there ever been a loyalty component to rank and file federal employment before? This seems to go against the meritocracy they claim to want.
If you do a great job, anything else shouldn't matter...
No. Federal employees take an oath to defend the Constitution, not the current executive.
Civil service in the US has been neutral politically and merit based for the last 140 years. It stands directly opposed to the "spoils system" which awarded positions to friends, campaign contributors, family members, etc.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spoils_system
There’s nothing in there about being qualified for the job, so this is definitely not a meritocracy play.
The bit right after the piece you quoted is interesting:
> Employees who engage in unlawful behavior or other misconduct will be prioritized for appropriate investigation and discipline, including termination.
There’s nothing in there about being qualified for the job,
Yes there is:
Performance culture: The federal workforce should be comprised of the best America has to offer. We will insist on excellence at every level — our performance standards will be updated to reward and promote those that exceed expectations and address in a fair and open way those who do not meet the high standards which the taxpayers of this country have a right to demand.
There is a huge difference between "creating lists for further use" and "offering buyouts". You sure those lists are only for offering buyouts, just because a notorious liar tells you so?
If you choose to remain in your current position, we thank you for your renewed focus on serving the *American people* to the best of your abilities and look forward to working together as part of an improved federal workforce.
Readit News
(technically you have to obtain a document, money, or other thing of value to run afoul of that particular law, but getting a reply to a successful spoof might qualify, and who knows whatever other laws it might violate, 25 CFR § 11.432 perhaps).
Doing so is exactly the type of abusive behavior abusive ex partners are known for.
Agree with it in principle or not, this system really belies the stupidity behind these scenes.
Governments and employers don’t do paperwork around hiring for fun - they do it for an auditable paper trail which has real and important value.
Key quote:
"Employees who accept deferred resignation should promptly have their duties re-assigned or eliminated and be placed on paid administrative leave until the end of the deferred resignation period (generally, September 30, 2025, unless the employee has elected another earlier resignation date), unless the agency head determines that it is necessary for the employee to be actively engaged in transitioning job duties, in which case employees should be placed on administrative leave as soon as those duties are transitioned."
https://chcoc.gov/sites/default/files/OPM%20Guidance%20Memo%...
Here's the FAQ that got put up on OPM.
https://www.opm.gov/fork/faq/
Note: This is pretty much every single one of the federal employees (2.2 million) other than: "military personnel of the armed forces, employees of the U.S. Postal Service, those in positions related to immigration enforcement and national security, and those in other positions specifically excluded by your employing agency."
The quotes are predictably demeaning: Am I allowed to get a second job?
"Absolutely! We encourage you to find a job in the private sector as soon as you would like to do so. The way to greater American prosperity is encouraging people to move from lower productivity jobs in the public sector to higher productivity jobs in the private sector."
Poster (YouDoHaveValue) on Reddit had a pretty great take:
Typical indicators of a scam:
There have already been legal fights about the mass mailings from new OPM addresses as reported by (Wired) https://www.wired.com/story/elon-musk-lackeys-office-personn...:"Last week, federal employees across the government received emails encouraging them to turn in colleagues who they believed to be working on diversity, equity, inclusion, and access initiatives (DEIA) to the OPM via the email address DEIAtruth@opm.gov"
Also, this story seems to have sank remarkably quickly...
Deleted Comment
It’s quite possible it’s constitutional to have contractual remedies for termination. I suspect that’s why there’s an 8 month severance.
My read of this is that no 8-month severance has been offered, for whatever that's worth.
Even how they painted Biden's pardons was pretty brilliant IMO. Trump had already pretty much telegraphed that he would pardon anyone who kissed up to him, and had been explicit about how he would use federal power to seek revenge. So while I was very much against Biden's pardon of his family, I'm sure Biden was probably like "F this shizz, it's not like holding the moral high ground is doing anyone any favors." But now, of course, anyone with Trump's blessing will get a pardon regardless of what they do, and they can point to Biden's pardons as "Dems did it first".
I think we are truly and surely fucked in the mid-long term - what we're going through looks pretty much exactly what all previous empires looked like when they fell into decline. It's just kind of stunning to watch with so much transparency.
Has there ever been a loyalty component to rank and file federal employment before? This seems to go against the meritocracy they claim to want.
If you do a great job, anything else shouldn't matter...
Civil service in the US has been neutral politically and merit based for the last 140 years. It stands directly opposed to the "spoils system" which awarded positions to friends, campaign contributors, family members, etc. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spoils_system
The bit right after the piece you quoted is interesting:
> Employees who engage in unlawful behavior or other misconduct will be prioritized for appropriate investigation and discipline, including termination.
I hope they start at the top!
Discussion at reddit: https://old.reddit.com/r/fednews/comments/1ibbbh7/this_was_p...
It's the things that aren't said that make it feel so Orwellian.
Dead Comment