Here's a thread on the greatest threat to govt integrity: the attack on the civil service. It has taken Trump 4 years to figure out how to significantly dismantle the civil service. If he wins a second term, he'll accomplish it. But, if he loses, the threat will not disappear. /1

Laws protect most executive branch employees from arbitrary firings. After a probationary period most executive branch employees can only be fired for cause and have a right to appeal a firing to the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB), which can reinstate them. /2

Contrary to public perception, firing most Feds for misconduct is not hard. I'm speaking as a former federal manager here. When someone engages in wrongdoing, you look into the matter to establish the facts. Then, if they're in a probationary period, you fire them. /3

If they're not in a probationary period, you issue a notice of proposed removal advising them of what they did and sharing the evidence you're relying on. They have a chance to respond in writing or orally. You carefully consider the response. Then make a decision. /4

If your decision is to fire them, they are taken off the roles. Pay attention that point: They are no longer paid. At all. While they are *unemployed,* they have 30 days to appeal to the MSPB. If they do, the MSPB will hold a hearing and issue a decision within a few months. /5

Management wins 80% of cases decided by a hearing officer (an Administrative Judge, not an Administrative Law Judge). This removal mechanism is not overly onerous. Now, to be fair, it's a little more complicated with union employees who can go to arbitration. /6

Many arbitrators are terrible. Some look to split the baby so neither management nor the union refuse to have them decide cases again. But the cure is not to throw the baby out with the bath water. Congress could create standards for arbitrators or make firings go to MSPB. /7

In any case, people who complain that it's too hard to fire Feds are not being realistic about how many bad employees corporations hold onto, or they are failing to appreciate the corruption that would flourish if we did away with civil service protections and federal unions./8

But in other cases, people aren't really admitting what they're complaining about. They're not really complaining about the MSPB procedure. The MSPB procedure is easy and effective. It's not really the MSPB procedure that federal managers fear. /9

What many of them are afraid of is the litigation they'll face if an employee files a whistleblower or EEO complaint. The litigation takes years. It's preceded by an investigation by an investigator. But whistleblower and EEO rights are important. They prevent wrongdoing. /10

Managers and critics of the federal govt know this is what they're complaining about. But they don't want to be seen to endorse whistleblower retaliation or discrimination, so they focus on the MSPB. But getting rid of the MSPB won't get rid of what the thing they don't like. /11

Sure, like anything else the EEO process, which accounts for the bulk of complaints filed by employees, could be improved. The EEOC could figure out how to manage its workload so employees don't wait 2 years to get a hearing for their complaints. /12

But some who criticize the EEOC don't support its mission. That's a problem. In a country steeped in systemic racism, the EEOC is urgently needed. Like any agency, EEOC can and should be improved. But it is hard to improve it if folks criticizing it don't want it to exist. /13

If, for instance, the EEOC sped up the discovery phase, it could work down its massive backlog. It could also triage cases to prioritize those involving significant personnel actions and severe harassment. I'll leave it at these 2 examples. This thread isn't about the EEOC. /14

This thread is about the fact that the criticism of civil service protections is disingenuous. The process for firing an employee is not disproportionately burdensome --if managers have done their job documenting misconduct and poor performance (which is not always the case). /15

To the extent other litigation (arbitration, whistleblower, EEO, USERRA, PPP, ULP, etc.) are what's at issue, they can be refined without throwing them out if the people doing the fine-tuning are genuinely supportive of them and not trying to destroy them — a very big "if" /16

But that's not really why the Trump admin and its congressional supporters want to gut civil service protections. What they're trying to do is literally create the fictional "deep state" they fantasize exists. They want a partisan workforce loyal to a corrupt politician./17

They would use Trump's new executive order to fire dedicated Feds who refuse illegal orders or report fraud, waste and abuse. Then they would hire party loyalists to replace them. They could seek out individuals of low moral character and authoritarian leanings. /18

Even if the next president rescinds Trump's executive order, Trump has now charted a path for the next corrupt demagogue. Congress needs to close the loophole in the law that Trump exploited in his executive order. Congress needs to look for other ways to shore up protections./19

For that change to happen, there needs to be political will to build up civil service protections. It's not clear that will currently exists. The Republicans pushing to roll those protections back have done an excellent marketing job attacking Feds. /20

That marketing was so good that for years, before Trump, some Democrats supported a trend of rolling back civil service protections. The bill that stripped MSPB appeal rights from VA executives and restricted them for other VA employees had bipartisan support. /21

Hopefully, Trump's attacks on the civil service have opened their eyes. We need a renewed commitment to the effort that began 137 years ago to eliminate the spoils system of the 19th century, when corruption flourished. The merit-based system should be strengthened. /22

We need civil service protections to protect all of us against a government workforce that serves the interests of corrupt politicians instead of citizens. Imagine if IRS agents targeted dissidents and supporters of the opposition party. Imagine if the SEC did the same./23

At his fascist rallies, Trump calls for the arrest of his political rivals or former Trump appointees who criticize him. Imagine if these weren't just words. Imagine if the weight of the entire government could be leveraged to target any citizen who displeased the president. /24

His political appointees are already attacking citizens for criticizing the govt. Here's an example from this very morning. Imagine if the whole government behave like this--and did more than just tweet. That's why America needs civil service protections. The threat is real. /25