Kaine introduces 'Saving the Civil Service Act' to protect federal workers' rights

by Caitlyn Frolo

Tue, February 14th 2023, 8:11 PM UTC

FILE - Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., speaks during a Senate Armed Services hearing on Capitol Hill, on July 21, 2022, in Washington. Kaine, the 2016 Democratic vice presidential nominee and a fixture of Virginia politics, is expected to address speculation about whether he will seek reelection to the U.S. Senate next year on Jan. 20, 2023, when he speaks in Richmond, Va. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib, File)

WASHINGTON D.C. (WSET) — U.S. Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA) introduced the Saving the Civil Service Act on Tuesday.

He said this legislation would prevent any position in the federal civil service from being reclassified outside of merit system principles without the express consent of Congress. The bill would secure the civil service and protect tens of thousands of federal employees from losing job protections and due process rights.

Kaine said U.S. Representative Gerry Connolly (D-VA-11) is introducing companion legislation in the House of Representatives.

“Our dedicated federal workers help keep our government running, protect our national security, and provide essential services to Americans like administering Social Security benefits,” said Kaine. “I’m introducing legislation to protect the merit-based federal hiring system and help ensure our federal workers are hired based on their qualifications, not their politics.”

On October 21, 2020, President Trump signed Executive Order 13957 creating Schedule F in the excepted government service. The excepted government service is any federal or civil service position that are not in the competitive service or the Senior Executive Service.

Kaine said this executive order, had it not been repealed by President Biden in January 2021, would have required agency heads to reclassify “policy-determining, policy-making, or policy-advocating” positions to a newly created Schedule F category of federal employees that would remove their due process rights and civil service protections.

He said this would have undermined the merit system principles of our federal workforce, as it would have made it easier for any administration to hire political loyalists and fire qualified experts.

According to press reports, the Office of Management and Budget under Trump planned to reclassify 88% of its workforce under Schedule F.

Kaine said that Trump reportedly plans to reinstate Schedule F immediately if reelected to the presidency, which would allow him to fire up to 50,000 federal workers and replace them with political hires.

Currently, new presidents can make about 4,000 political appointments, approximately 1,200 of which must be confirmed by the Senate. Sen. Kaine said Trump’s move could increase the number of political appointments from 4,000 to approximately 50,000.

Kaine said the Saving the Civil Service Act would prevent any position in the competitive service from being reclassified to Schedule F pursuant to President Trump’s Executive Order signed on October 21, 2020.

"This would prevent future administrations from creating new employee classifications in order to hire more political loyalists and fire experts," Kaine said.

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