Decision Comes the Day After the Supreme Court Stays Order Blocking Widespread Government Reorganization While Declining to Weigh In on the Legality of the Planned Terminations 

Washington, D.C. — Today, Democracy Forward announced the launch of a new Civil Service Defense and Innovation Fellowship Program, designed to elevate the voices and expertise of former public servants, incubate talent, build innovative reforms for the future, and bring attention to the impact of recent efforts by the Trump-Vance administration to dismantle the federal government from within. The move comes the day after the U.S. Supreme Court granted an emergency request from the Trump-Vance administration to stay the injunction two lower courts approved in AFGE v. Trump that halted the unlawful reorganization of the federal government. The Court’s decision may open the door for the administration to continue with plans to restructure federal agencies using Agency Reductions in Force and Reorganization Plans, despite the absence of the required congressional authorization, putting federal workers and essential public services in grave jeopardy. 

The Fellowship Program will engage former career civil servants and political appointees with deep expertise in areas, such as the environment, national security, education, and labor. During a 12-month term, fellows will produce research and analysis documenting the scope and consequences of cuts to federal agencies, and develop and incubate innovative work to inform future policymaking and to rebuild government capacity.

“Public servants – who work for all Americans – are on the frontlines of protecting our democracy. This fellowship will help ensure that people who served our government have the opportunity to shine a light on the damage being done by the lawlessness of the Trump-Vance administration,” said Skye Perryman, President and CEO of Democracy Forward. “As we work every day to oppose the actions being pursued to weaken or dismantle the federal government, we will continue to seek out the stories and impacts being felt in red states and blue states across our country.”

The Fellowship Program will be managed by Civil Service Strong, a project of Democracy Forward, which is a collaborative effort by civil society, non-partisan good government and watchdog organizations, lawyers, and unions who have joined together to ensure the civil service can continue to serve the American people and our Constitution, deliver for our nation, and support our communities. 

“Amid a growing threat to the integrity and capacity of our federal government, this fellowship program will help ensure that those who’ve spent their careers serving the public are heard,” said Rob Shriver, Managing Director of Democracy Forward’s Civil Service Strong initiative. “Through this fellowship, experienced public servants will help us tell the real story of what happens when government is dismantled, and the urgency of rebuilding it so it can deliver for the American people.”

The Trump-Vance administration has been relentless in its efforts to weaken the federal government’s ability to work for people, from attempts to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education to reviving Schedule F (now Schedule P/C) – which would strip protections from career civil servants – to a sweeping plan to impose unconstitutional reductions across several federal agencies. From undermining clean air and water protections to weakening worker safety and economic oversight, the consequences are already being felt. Democracy Forward continues to challenge each of these steps in courts across the country and also supports the ability of people and communities to innovate reforms for the future.

Fellows will be selected through a competitive application process, with final cohorts tailored to the policy priorities and backgrounds of successful applicants.

For more information about the fellowship, please click here.

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Democracy Forward Foundation is a national legal organization that advances democracy and social progress through litigation, policy, public education, and regulatory engagement. For more information, please visit www.democracyforward.org.