Latest news with #federalworkforce
CNN
2 days ago
- Politics
- CNN
And the federal employee of the year is… someone who quit in protest
It should say something about the whiplash the Trump administration has inflicted on the federal workforce that the person who received an MVP award for government service on Tuesday had resigned in protest from his federal job earlier this year. 'Sometimes you're defined by what you achieve and sometimes by what you decide not to do,' former Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said while introducing David Lebryk, who was the top career official at the Treasury Department until he tangled with DOGE, the so-called Department of Government Efficiency. Geithner and Lebryk worked together at the Treasury Department early in their careers, but while Geithner went on to become a Democratic appointee, Lebryk, who started in government service as an intern in 1988 during the Reagan administration, worked mostly in nonpartisan anonymity for presidents of both political parties. Lebryk quit in protest this year when Trump-affiliated officials tried to stop expected government payments to shut down USAID spending. It was one of the first major indications that the Trump administration would be playing outside the rulebook to upend the federal government. Now, the world has essentially been turned upside down for federal workers, according to Max Stier, CEO of the Partnership for Public Service, the nonpartisan good government group that bestows the Service to America Medals — aka the Sammies, for Partnership founder Samuel J. Heyman. 'Indiscriminate cuts to federal agencies, personnel and programs and moves to politicize the hiring and firing of career civil servants are jeopardizing the effectiveness of our government and threatening our democracy,' Stier said at the awards ceremony. There was a definite chill over this year's event, held at the recently opened Hopkins Bloomberg Center near the US Capitol. No political leaders from the administration appeared onstage or were evident at the event, and while Lebryk came on stage to accept his award, other honorees did not. 'The last thing we want to do is put our honorees at additional risk,' Stier said, as if being given the award would be a black mark for a public servant whom Trump might view as part of the deep state. Lebryk was hailed as the type of nonpartisan official who makes the federal government work. In accepting his award, he told a respectful story about Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, who worked in the first Trump administration. They were trying to figure out how to get hundreds of millions of support payments out to Americans during the pandemic, a bipartisan effort that helped to stabilize the economy. Lebryk could tell similar stories going back to the Mexican peso crisis of the early '90s. He was in government for all of that but was never the center of attention. 'So much of what we do in the public sector goes unnoticed and unrecognized,' Lebryk said. 'In fact, most of my career was spent trying to be unnoticed.' It's that sort of workaday public service that good government groups fear is in danger as the Trump administration looks to rework the federal workforce. The Sammies tried to showcase what's good in government today. Kathleen Kirsch was honored for her work coordinating US efforts to help maintain the power grid in Ukraine through USAID, the foreign aid agency that is being dissolved by the Trump administration. Dr. Laura Cheever, who recently retired, was honored for her work implementing and scaling AIDS treatment and prevention programs in the US and Africa that have saved millions of lives. National Weather Service scientists were honored for developing a revolutionary heat alert system. Luis Coronado Jr. and Matt Pierce helped create an online passport renewal system at the State Department. Maya Bretzius was honored for her work improving IRS call centers and reducing call wait times. (The Trump administration has been working to drastically reduce the number people employed by the agency.) Department of Health and Human Services officials were honored for negotiating prices with drug companies for Medicare, something made possible by a law passed during the Biden administration. Renata Miskell and Linda Chero were honored for their work at Treasury cutting down on improper payments, saving the government billions of dollars. Employees from the Small Business Administration's Office of Inspector General were honored for their work identifying and clawing back fraudulent Covid-19 loans. Susan Xu, of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, helped develop better protective gear for firefighters. Yakov Pachepsky and Moon Kim from the Agricultural Research Service were honored for developing technology to develop foodborne illnesses on farms and at factories. Kyle Knipper, also of the Agricultural Research Service, is helping farmers in California use less water for their crops. The list goes on. There were awards for developing the world's most powerful supercomputer to help ensure nuclear safety, creating satellites, responding to African Swine Flu, and prosecuting criminals. While the Partnership for Public Service is a nonpartisan group and tries to appeal across the political spectrum, there were only two Republican presenters at the event. Joshua Bolten, who served as White House chief of staff under the George W. Bush administration, did not attend in person, but did record a video. Sean O'Keefe, who was NASA administrator during the Bush administration, introduced a group of honorees recognized for innovation. Standing alongside O'Keefe was one of last year's honorees, Jerry Ma, who helped develop AI tools to streamline and improve the process of approving patents at the Patent and Trademark Office. Ma told me he has since left government service and is working at a private AI company. Many civil servants are wondering if they should follow such a path. That is something the Trump administration is hoping for. The White House has unveiled a new system to vet potential government workers for their knowledge of Trump's executive actions. Tucked into the Senate version of the 'Big, Beautiful Bill' on Capitol Hill is language that would make new hires either pay much more toward retirement or forfeit protections enjoyed by the professional civil service and instead become at-will employees who could in theory be fired for any reason, including politics. Stier said the Sammies are one way to help make Americans understand what civil servants contribute. 'Our honorees accomplishments are a stark reminder of the services and benefits we will lose if civil servants continue to be traumatized and pushed out of government,' Stier said.
CNN
2 days ago
- Politics
- CNN
And the federal employee of the year is… someone who quit in protest
It should say something about the whiplash the Trump administration has inflicted on the federal workforce that the person who received an MVP award for government service on Tuesday had resigned in protest from his federal job earlier this year. 'Sometimes you're defined by what you achieve and sometimes by what you decide not to do,' former Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said while introducing David Lebryk, who was the top career official at the Treasury Department until he tangled with DOGE, the so-called Department of Government Efficiency. Geithner and Lebryk worked together at the Treasury Department early in their careers, but while Geithner went on to become a Democratic appointee, Lebryk, who started in government service as an intern in 1988 during the Reagan administration, worked mostly in nonpartisan anonymity for presidents of both political parties. Lebryk quit in protest this year when Trump-affiliated officials tried to stop expected government payments to shut down USAID spending. It was one of the first major indications that the Trump administration would be playing outside the rulebook to upend the federal government. Now, the world has essentially been turned upside down for federal workers, according to Max Stier, CEO of the Partnership for Public Service, the nonpartisan good government group that bestows the Service to America Medals — aka the Sammies, for Partnership founder Samuel J. Heyman. 'Indiscriminate cuts to federal agencies, personnel and programs and moves to politicize the hiring and firing of career civil servants are jeopardizing the effectiveness of our government and threatening our democracy,' Stier said at the awards ceremony. There was a definite chill over this year's event, held at the recently opened Hopkins Bloomberg Center near the US Capitol. No political leaders from the administration appeared onstage or were evident at the event, and while Lebryk came on stage to accept his award, other honorees did not. 'The last thing we want to do is put our honorees at additional risk,' Stier said, as if being given the award would be a black mark for a public servant whom Trump might view as part of the deep state. Lebryk was hailed as the type of nonpartisan official who makes the federal government work. In accepting his award, he told a respectful story about Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, who worked in the first Trump administration. They were trying to figure out how to get hundreds of millions of support payments out to Americans during the pandemic, a bipartisan effort that helped to stabilize the economy. Lebryk could tell similar stories going back to the Mexican peso crisis of the early '90s. He was in government for all of that but was never the center of attention. 'So much of what we do in the public sector goes unnoticed and unrecognized,' Lebryk said. 'In fact, most of my career was spent trying to be unnoticed.' It's that sort of workaday public service that good government groups fear is in danger as the Trump administration looks to rework the federal workforce. The Sammies tried to showcase what's good in government today. Kathleen Kirsch was honored for her work coordinating US efforts to help maintain the power grid in Ukraine through USAID, the foreign aid agency that is being dissolved by the Trump administration. Dr. Laura Cheever, who recently retired, was honored for her work implementing and scaling AIDS treatment and prevention programs in the US and Africa that have saved millions of lives. National Weather Service scientists were honored for developing a revolutionary heat alert system. Luis Coronado Jr. and Matt Pierce helped create an online passport renewal system at the State Department. Maya Bretzius was honored for her work improving IRS call centers and reducing call wait times. (The Trump administration has been working to drastically reduce the number people employed by the agency.) Department of Health and Human Services officials were honored for negotiating prices with drug companies for Medicare, something made possible by a law passed during the Biden administration. Renata Miskell and Linda Chero were honored for their work at Treasury cutting down on improper payments, saving the government billions of dollars. Employees from the Small Business Administration's Office of Inspector General were honored for their work identifying and clawing back fraudulent Covid-19 loans. Susan Xu, of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, helped develop better protective gear for firefighters. Yakov Pachepsky and Moon Kim from the Agricultural Research Service were honored for developing technology to develop foodborne illnesses on farms and at factories. Kyle Knipper, also of the Agricultural Research Service, is helping farmers in California use less water for their crops. The list goes on. There were awards for developing the world's most powerful supercomputer to help ensure nuclear safety, creating satellites, responding to African Swine Flu, and prosecuting criminals. While the Partnership for Public Service is a nonpartisan group and tries to appeal across the political spectrum, there were only two Republican presenters at the event. Joshua Bolten, who served as White House chief of staff under the George W. Bush administration, did not attend in person, but did record a video. Sean O'Keefe, who was NASA administrator during the Bush administration, introduced a group of honorees recognized for innovation. Standing alongside O'Keefe was one of last year's honorees, Jerry Ma, who helped develop AI tools to streamline and improve the process of approving patents at the Patent and Trademark Office. Ma told me he has since left government service and is working at a private AI company. Many civil servants are wondering if they should follow such a path. That is something the Trump administration is hoping for. The White House has unveiled a new system to vet potential government workers for their knowledge of Trump's executive actions. Tucked into the Senate version of the 'Big, Beautiful Bill' on Capitol Hill is language that would make new hires either pay much more toward retirement or forfeit protections enjoyed by the professional civil service and instead become at-will employees who could in theory be fired for any reason, including politics. Stier said the Sammies are one way to help make Americans understand what civil servants contribute. 'Our honorees accomplishments are a stark reminder of the services and benefits we will lose if civil servants continue to be traumatized and pushed out of government,' Stier said.
CNN
2 days ago
- Politics
- CNN
And the federal employee of the year is… someone who quit in protest
It should say something about the whiplash the Trump administration has inflicted on the federal workforce that the person who received an MVP award for government service on Tuesday had resigned in protest from his federal job earlier this year. 'Sometimes you're defined by what you achieve and sometimes by what you decide not to do,' former Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said while introducing David Lebryk, who was the top career official at the Treasury Department until he tangled with DOGE, the so-called Department of Government Efficiency. Geithner and Lebryk worked together at the Treasury Department early in their careers, but while Geithner went on to become a Democratic appointee, Lebryk, who started in government service as an intern in 1988 during the Reagan administration, worked mostly in nonpartisan anonymity for presidents of both political parties. Lebryk quit in protest this year when Trump-affiliated officials tried to stop expected government payments to shut down USAID spending. It was one of the first major indications that the Trump administration would be playing outside the rulebook to upend the federal government. Now, the world has essentially been turned upside down for federal workers, according to Max Stier, CEO of the Partnership for Public Service, the nonpartisan good government group that bestows the Service to America Medals — aka the Sammies, for Partnership founder Samuel J. Heyman. 'Indiscriminate cuts to federal agencies, personnel and programs and moves to politicize the hiring and firing of career civil servants are jeopardizing the effectiveness of our government and threatening our democracy,' Stier said at the awards ceremony. There was a definite chill over this year's event, held at the recently opened Hopkins Bloomberg Center near the US Capitol. No political leaders from the administration appeared onstage or were evident at the event, and while Lebryk came on stage to accept his award, other honorees did not. 'The last thing we want to do is put our honorees at additional risk,' Stier said, as if being given the award would be a black mark for a public servant whom Trump might view as part of the deep state. Lebryk was hailed as the type of nonpartisan official who makes the federal government work. In accepting his award, he told a respectful story about Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, who worked in the first Trump administration. They were trying to figure out how to get hundreds of millions of support payments out to Americans during the pandemic, a bipartisan effort that helped to stabilize the economy. Lebryk could tell similar stories going back to the Mexican peso crisis of the early '90s. He was in government for all of that but was never the center of attention. 'So much of what we do in the public sector goes unnoticed and unrecognized,' Lebryk said. 'In fact, most of my career was spent trying to be unnoticed.' It's that sort of workaday public service that good government groups fear is in danger as the Trump administration looks to rework the federal workforce. The Sammies tried to showcase what's good in government today. Kathleen Kirsch was honored for her work coordinating US efforts to help maintain the power grid in Ukraine through USAID, the foreign aid agency that is being dissolved by the Trump administration. Dr. Laura Cheever, who recently retired, was honored for her work implementing and scaling AIDS treatment and prevention programs in the US and Africa that have saved millions of lives. National Weather Service scientists were honored for developing a revolutionary heat alert system. Luis Coronado Jr. and Matt Pierce helped create an online passport renewal system at the State Department. Maya Bretzius was honored for her work improving IRS call centers and reducing call wait times. (The Trump administration has been working to drastically reduce the number people employed by the agency.) Department of Health and Human Services officials were honored for negotiating prices with drug companies for Medicare, something made possible by a law passed during the Biden administration. Renata Miskell and Linda Chero were honored for their work at Treasury cutting down on improper payments, saving the government billions of dollars. Employees from the Small Business Administration's Office of Inspector General were honored for their work identifying and clawing back fraudulent Covid-19 loans. Susan Xu, of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, helped develop better protective gear for firefighters. Yakov Pachepsky and Moon Kim from the Agricultural Research Service were honored for developing technology to develop foodborne illnesses on farms and at factories. Kyle Knipper, also of the Agricultural Research Service, is helping farmers in California use less water for their crops. The list goes on. There were awards for developing the world's most powerful supercomputer to help ensure nuclear safety, creating satellites, responding to African Swine Flu, and prosecuting criminals. While the Partnership for Public Service is a nonpartisan group and tries to appeal across the political spectrum, there were only two Republican presenters at the event. Joshua Bolten, who served as White House chief of staff under the George W. Bush administration, did not attend in person, but did record a video. Sean O'Keefe, who was NASA administrator during the Bush administration, introduced a group of honorees recognized for innovation. Standing alongside O'Keefe was one of last year's honorees, Jerry Ma, who helped develop AI tools to streamline and improve the process of approving patents at the Patent and Trademark Office. Ma told me he has since left government service and is working at a private AI company. Many civil servants are wondering if they should follow such a path. That is something the Trump administration is hoping for. The White House has unveiled a new system to vet potential government workers for their knowledge of Trump's executive actions. Tucked into the Senate version of the 'Big, Beautiful Bill' on Capitol Hill is language that would make new hires either pay much more toward retirement or forfeit protections enjoyed by the professional civil service and instead become at-will employees who could in theory be fired for any reason, including politics. Stier said the Sammies are one way to help make Americans understand what civil servants contribute. 'Our honorees accomplishments are a stark reminder of the services and benefits we will lose if civil servants continue to be traumatized and pushed out of government,' Stier said.
Washington Post
4 days ago
- Business
- Washington Post
Trump accelerates push to reward loyalty in federal workforce
President Donald Trump is accelerating efforts to transform the federal workforce from a nonpartisan, merit-based civil service to a system that values loyalty to the president and to push policies that allow the administration to more easily dismiss career employees, according to federal workers, public service experts and employment attorneys.
The Guardian
06-06-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
US supreme court rules Doge can access personal records during legal challenge
The US supreme court on Friday permitted the so-called 'department of government efficiency' (Doge), a key player in Donald Trump's drive to slash the federal workforce, broad access to the personal information of millions of Americans in Social Security Administration data systems while a legal challenge plays out. At the request of the justice department, the justices put on hold Maryland-based US district judge Ellen Hollander's order that had largely blocked Doge's access to 'personally identifiable information' in data such as medical and financial records while litigation proceeds in a lower court. Hollander found that allowing Doge unfettered access likely would violate a federal privacy law. The court's brief, unsigned order did not provide a rationale for siding with Doge. The court has a 6-3 conservative majority. Its three liberal justices dissented. Doge swept through federal agencies as part of the Republican president's effort, spearheaded by billionaire Elon Musk, to eliminate federal jobs, downsize and reshape the US government and root out what they see as wasteful spending. Musk formally ended his government work on 30 May. Two labor unions and an advocacy group sued to stop Doge from accessing sensitive data at the SSA, including social security numbers, bank account data, tax information, earnings history and immigration records. The agency is a major provider of government benefits, sending checks each month to more than 70 million recipients, including retirees and disabled Americans. In their lawsuit, the plaintiffs argued that the SSA had been 'ransacked' and that Doge members had been installed without proper vetting or training and had demanded access to some of the agency's most sensitive data systems. Hollander in a 17 April ruling found that Doge had failed to explain why its stated mission required 'unprecedented, unfettered access to virtually SSA's entire data systems'. 'For some 90 years, SSA has been guided by the foundational principle of an expectation of privacy with respect to its records,' Hollander wrote. 'This case exposes a wide fissure in the foundation.' Hollander issued a preliminary injunction that prohibited Doge staffers and anyone working with them from accessing data containing personal information, with narrow exceptions. The judge's ruling did allow Doge affiliates to access data that had been stripped of private information as long as those seeking access had gone through the proper training and passed background checks. Hollander also ordered Doge affiliates to 'disgorge and delete' any personal information already in their possession. Based in Richmond, Virginia, the fourth US circuit court of appeals in a 9-6 vote declined on 30 April to pause Hollander's block on Doge's unlimited access to SSA records. Justice department lawyers in their supreme court filing characterized Hollander's order as judicial overreach. 'The district court is forcing the executive branch to stop employees charged with modernizing government information systems from accessing the data in those systems because, in the court's judgment, those employees do not 'need' such access,' they wrote. The six dissenting judges wrote that the case should have been treated the same as one in which a fourth circuit panel ruled 2-1 to allow Doge to access data at the US treasury and education departments and the office of personnel management. In a concurring opinion, seven judges who ruled against Doge wrote that the case involving social security data was 'substantially stronger' with 'vastly greater stakes', citing 'detailed and profoundly sensitive Social Security records', such as family court and school records of children, mental health treatment records and credit card information.
