Government Executive recently published an op-ed by Shareholders Nekeisha Campbell and Courtney Mickman. The article, titled “Critics argue new federal workforce rules increase the risk of politicization, not accountability,” addresses potential ill effects of Schedule P/C. Nekeisha and Courtney pose a crucial question: ” If policy-influencing career employees can remain in their roles without personal political loyalty so long as they competently execute their duties to the best of their abilities, then why convert their positions to the excepted service and strip away due process protections?” The fact of the matter is, the government has always had the power to fire or discipline the employees it will convert to Schedule P/C. However, Schedule P/C strips these employees of their due process rights. The authors posit: “Due process is not the opposite of accountability; it is what makes accountability legitimate, especially for career employees who often accept lower pay than private-sector counterparts to serve the public.” Among the due process rights Schedule P/C employees lack is the ability to file whistleblower complaints with the Office of Special Counsel (OSC). Nekeisha and Courtney conclude: “Civil service rules may be imperfect, but they are guardrails that protect both the workforce and the public’s interest in a professional civil service rather than a system of political spoils. Schedule P/C weakens those guardrails and increases the risk of politicization of the federal workforce.”
Read the full article on Government Executive’s website.
