Unions Challenge Latest Attempt to Replace Career Civil Servants with Political Loyalists

Boston — Despite the lapse in government funding, and the furloughing of hundreds of thousands of federal workers, the government continues to post new job opportunities, with a new and unlawful essay seeking loyalty to President Trump. The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), and National Association of Government Employees, Inc. (NAGE) filed a lawsuit today challenging the inclusion of a “loyalty question” seeking fealty to the Trump-Vance administration on federal civil service job applications, noting that more than 1,700 job posts have included the essay question since October 1. The unions are represented by Democracy Forward, Protect Democracy, and Keker, Van Nest and Peters LLP.

For more than a century, the civil service in the United States has been nonpartisan and not focused on political loyalty. Yet, the Trump-Vance administration is now directing the inclusion of an open-ended essay question that asks potential civil servants about their political agreement with the Trump-Vance administration’s political agenda. This unprecedented “loyalty question” asks applicants to identify one or two of President Trump’s Executive Orders or policy initiatives that “are significant to you” and explain how the applicant would help advance them if hired. The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, explains that this question is unprecedented and unlawful. 

Plaintiffs allege that OPM has violated the First Amendment rights of applicants by conditioning employment on particular political viewpoints, compelling applicants to praise President Trump’s orders and policies, chilling the protected speech of other applicants who fear retaliation, and enabling and facilitating viewpoint discrimination. 

The inclusion of this question is also arbitrary and capricious, in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act, and violates the Privacy Act because it collects unnecessary and irrelevant information about the exercise of applicants’ First Amendment rights. 

“Forcing job applicants to answer politically motivated questions comes straight from the Project 2025 playbook, which aims to replace dedicated, nonpartisan public servants with workers chosen for their political loyalty rather than their qualifications or their oath to uphold the Constitution,” said AFGE National President Everett Kelley. “This isn’t just illegal, it also harms our members and all Americans by depriving them of opportunities to serve their country and by undermining a skilled, nonpartisan workforce. We are proud to file this lawsuit to defend our members and the merit-based civil service, the cornerstone of our democracy.”

“Federal workers chose jobs in public service because they want to help others — not to serve political or corporate interests,” said AFSCME President Lee Saunders. “But this billionaire-run administration wants to push them out and replace experienced public service workers with cronies who will blindly follow orders, regardless of what’s best for our communities. These ‘loyalty tests’ put partisan politics over expertise, leading to a talent drain within vital agencies that will put public health and safety at deep risk. We’re filing this lawsuit to defend the integrity of a nonpartisan, qualified civil service, and to ensure federal agencies serve the people, not self-interested partisan politicians.”

“For over a century, the merit-based civil service has been a cornerstone of our democracy, safeguarding it from corruption and political interference,” said David J. Holway, National President of the National Association of Government Employees (NAGE). “The administration’s loyalty essay requirement is a direct assault on that legacy and on every public servant’s oath to uphold the Constitution. NAGE stands firm in defense of a professional, nonpartisan workforce, because the strength of our democracy depends on competence, integrity, and service to the American people, not political allegiance.”

“In the United States, our civil servants are not expected to swear loyalty to a political agenda; rather, their loyalties lie to the U.S. Constitution and the American people. Yet, President Trump seeks to prioritize loyalty to politics over service, ” said Skye Perryman, President and CEO of Democracy Forward. “We are honored to bring this challenge on behalf of public servants to the President’s unlawful and unprecedented loyalty question. To retain the core function and effectiveness of our civil service, it is imperative that we ensure that civil servants are hired based on merit and their ability to do the jobs in serving the American people, not based on their political allegiance to a particular president.”

“The First Amendment and federal statutes protect civil servants from having to write essays about their political beliefs in order to be hired for non-political jobs, like air traffic controllers or nurses,” said Jacek Pruski, Special Counsel at Protect Democracy. “We’re proud to be able to defend the rights of individuals who want to serve the American people based on merit and qualification, not personal political beliefs that are irrelevant to these jobs.”

“Our firm is proud to join co-counsel in defending the rule of law and the integrity of America’s civil service,” said Warren Braunig, partner at Keker, Van Nest & Peters. “Our democracy depends on public servants who are faithful, first and foremost, to the Constitution, not to a political agenda. The Trump-Vance administration’s gambit to demand political loyalty from civil servants would corrupt the federal government and destroy the public’s trust in its institutions.”

By compelling federal workers to indicate how they are personally loyal to the President, the administration has reaffirmed its plan, set forth in Project 2025, to replace federal workers hired on the basis of merit with political loyalists. Allowing this plan to continue will undermine the competence and effectiveness of the civil service. The suit asks the court to prohibit OPM from enforcing or implementing the loyalty question and to protect the civil service and the American people from this partisan attack.

The case is American Federation of Government Employees et al. v. Office of Personnel Management et al. Read the complaint 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 

Protect Democracy is a nonpartisan, nonprofit group working to prevent American democracy from declining into a more authoritarian form of government. Find out more at protectdemocracy.org 

For more than 45 years, Keker, Van Nest & Peters has tried and litigated some of the nation’s most complex and high-stakes civil and criminal cases—where companies, products, and careers are on the line. The firm’s practice spans intellectual property, professional liability, class actions, commercial litigation, antitrust, white-collar defense, and appellate matters. Keker also maintains a deep commitment to pro bono work, with a long tradition of representing individuals and communities in civil rights, habeas corpus, criminal defense, immigration, and asylum cases. Find out more at keker.com