The Natural Science Collections Alliance has joined 15 other scientific organizations in thanking House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD), Representative Gerald Connolly (D-VA), and Representative Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) for introducing the Saving the Civil Service Act (H.R. 8687) to reverse the October 21, 2020 Executive Order on Creating Schedule F in the Excepted Service.
The Order would create a new classification of Schedule F employees serving in confidential, policy-determining, policy-making, or policy-advocating positions and would restrict protections for certain civil servants, making it easier for the federal government to fire career staff.
While the White House has said that this directive will give federal agencies more flexibility to remove Schedule F employees from their roles for poor performance, we are deeply concerned that the Executive Order could result in career professionals including critical scientists and public health professionals being stripped from their positions for political reasons, resulting in the loss of critical institutional knowledge and expertise, the groups note. The new Executive Order has the potential to shift the workforce from one that is based on merit to one that is focused, above all, on loyalty to an administration. Such a shift would have real-world implications for America’s leadership in research and innovation and for Americans collective health, well-being, and security.