A federal employee union is suing President Donald Trump over his recent executive order that could see federal workers losing civil service protections.
The National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU), which represents about 150,000 employees at 33 federal agencies and departments, on Tuesday filed a lawsuit against Trump and Michael Rigas, acting director of the Office of Personnel Management in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
The union claims that Trump’s executive order issued on Oct. 21 will “radically reshape the civil service by drastically increasing the number and type of employees who are subject to dismissal without adverse action rights.”
The “adverse action procedures” require agencies to follow an extensive process before taking adverse actions against an employee.
The Trump administration explains that an exemption from the procedures is necessary because these requirements make removing “poorly performing employees difficult.”
“Only a quarter of Federal supervisors are confident that they could remove a poor performer,” the executive order states. “Career employees in confidential, policy-determining, policy‑making, and policy-advocating positions wield significant influence over Government operations and effectiveness. Agencies need the flexibility to expeditiously remove poorly performing employees from these positions without facing extensive delays or litigation.”
The union argued that although the executive order states that the exemption is necessary, “it provides no details, data, or justification for this change to removal procedures.”
The union argues that the president has exceeded his authority when issuing the order and has asked the court to declare the order unlawful and block the Trump administration from enforcing it.
The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request to comment on the lawsuit.
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