Civil servants deliver our mail, keep our air and water clean, and protect consumers from abuse.

President Trump’s Executive Order 13957 (Schedule F) attempted to remove critical protections for millions of these federal employees so it would be easier for him and his cronies to fire them. If Schedule F were to be reinstated, these functions could be in the hands of partisan loyalists instead of qualified experts.

Firing civil servants at will simply because they’re not hyperpartisan or extreme enough would be a disservice to the millions of Americans who depend on federal workers and the services they deliver every day.

Democracy Forward submitted a letter on behalf of 27 organizations in support of the Biden administration’s final rule, in addition to other supportive comments, that proactively creates additional protections for the nation’s civil service — and provides an important safeguard against a potential anti-democratic administration.

From pages 80 and 81 of the Mandate for Leadership:

Of the 2.2 million federal employees, most already do not work in Washington, D.C. Still, we know that many of our nation’s foremost experts in their respective fields are situated in Washington, D.C., serving the American people every day at federal agencies.

In 2019, the Trump administration relocated the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to Colorado, resulting in 77% of the bureau’s employees resigning from their positions.

If federal agencies are relocated without thoughtful consideration and public input, critical agencies could lose major sects of their labor force, limiting the ability of the federal government to deliver for the people it is meant to serve.

From page 535 of the Mandate for Leadership, as well as page 524:

The special interests behind Project 2025 want to create their own pipeline for important roles within our federal government, and they have already created a personnel database for those who would like to be considered for positions during a future administration. Registration for this database includes a questionnaire which evaluates candidates through ideologically biased questions.

They would also utilize legislative or regulatory processes — including through the Office of Personnel Management — to reinstate the usage of general intelligence tests, which have not been in use since the Carter administration. At the time, civil rights groups contended that the general intelligence exam (the Professional and Administration Career Exam, or PACE) used to hire for certain agency positions was discriminatory. After a class action lawsuit alleging employment discrimination led to a consent decree, Carter administration officials abolished the use of the exam for hiring.

Judging prospective candidates for federal employment in ideological or discriminatory ways is a dangerous way to govern. People across the U.S. depend on federal employees every day, and replacing experts with partisan loyalists would be a tremendous disservice.

From page xiv of the Mandate for Leadership:

Security clearances are typically revoked according to a formal process that does provide some due process rights for those whose clearances are revoked. Project 2025, however, would encourage a future administration to “remove IC employees” under vague criteria that risk increased politicization.

In addition to revoking clearances, Project 2025 would empower the Director of National Intelligence and the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency to expedite the issuance of security clearances to those deemed necessary to meet the administration’s “mission needs.”

Expediting the issuance of security clearances paves the way for more unqualified and inept leaders to be charged with our nation’s most sensitive national security matters. Take Jared Kushner: when two national expert security specialists refused to issue him a clearance (due to concerns of foreign influence over him), the Trump administration overruled their expertise and gave him one anyway.

From page 213 of the Mandate for Leadership: