Unions are suing the Trump administration over what they say is an attempt to swap out public servants with political loyalists across the federal workforce.
Since the start of the government shutdown — which the administration has used to push out droves of federal employees — there have been 1,700 job posts requiring applicants to submit essays on the personal significance of the president’s executive orders and how they would implement those directives if hired, said union leaders in a Thursday statement accompanying their lawsuit filed in federal court in Massachusetts.
“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 Everett Kelley, national president of the American Federation of Government Employees, which represents workers at agencies like EPA as well as the Energy and the Interior departments.
“This isn’t just illegal,” Kelley continued, “it also harms our members and all Americans by depriving them of opportunities to serve their country and by undermining a skilled, nonpartisan workforce.”
