Trump's "Schedule F" by Executive Order is unconstitutional. It also is a really bad idea. 1/

A little history lesson: The federal civil service has been mostly based on merit since the Pendleton Act of 1882. It changed awarding federal jobs based on patronage or political affiliation & began the civil service merit system which we have had for almost 140 years. 2/

The history of the Pendleton Act is grim. Pendleton, a Republican, had introduced a civil service reform bill in 1880. It did not pass. 3/

Then, President Garfield was assassinated in 1881 by Charles Guiteau, who believed that he had been passed over for a political appointment because of his political affiliation with the Stalwarts. Who were they, you ask? 4/

Weirdly, the Stalwarts were a faction of the Republican Party & opposed civil service reform. They were opposed by the Repub. “half-breeds." The derisive term, catering to racist tropes, was coined by the Stalwarts who alleged that the reformists were only “half” Republicans. 5/

Guiteau called himself a “Stalwart of the Stalwarts.” He became murderous when he denied an appointment for what he thought were political reasons. Seemingly it would bolster the concept of appointment by merit and not by political affiliation, but alas not. 6/

President Arthur, who succeeded Garfield, made civil service reform a priority when he assumed office in Sept. 1881. Pendleton introduced his bill again but it did not pass. 7/

In the election of 1882, Democrats, campaigning on the issue of civil service reform, assumed control of the House. The Republicans rout in the 1882 elections apparently convinced many to support civil service reform. 8/

The Pendleton Act was passed in the lame duck session of 1882. Arthur signed the bill into law in early 1883. The Pendleton Act started the end of political patronage. It also prohibited firing or demoting a portion of federal employees because of political affiliation. 9/

The Act also started the federal Civil Service Commission. Later, the Civil Service Commission evolved into the U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board, an independent federal agency that is supposed to protect and enforce the merit system for federal employees. 10/

During the Trump Administration, the MSPB has been eviscerated, and currently there are NO MSPB Board members appointed. This means– effectively– that challenges to abuses of the merit system have ground to a halt. 11/

The creation of “Schedule F”– essentially a return to a non-merit system for federal employees under the guise of efficiency and adherence to corporate “at-will” employment principles, is incredibly short-sighted. 12/

The integrity of the federal service is at stake. Disemboweling the MSPB, the agency that oversaw the enforcement of the merit system has been bad enough. Schedule F seeks to strike another blow to the merit system. 13/

The creation of Schedule F by Executive Order is unconstitutional as it would be an unlawful taking of property rights. Because of the separation of powers, an Executive also cannot overrule a statute through Executive Order. 14/

The integrity of the merit system & the civil service is of grave importance. Would you want FDA employees overseeing the safety of vaccines to be able to be fired at will? How about Air Traffic Controllers? Postal workers who are responsible for delivery of mail-in ballots? 15/

Oppose Schedule F. Call your representatives and senators about this. Make sure this gets reversed now and does not get swept under the rug. //