Trump administration moves to fast-track firings of federal workers for misconduct
Source: Reuters
June 3, 2025 3:13 PM EDT Updated 12 hours ago
June 3 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump's administration moved on Tuesday to make it easier to fire federal employees for misconduct, the latest step in a broader effort to overhaul the civil service and shrink the federal bureaucracy.
The U.S. Office of Personnel Management published a proposed rule that would allow the office, which acts as the federal government's human resources department, to direct other agencies to fire employees for conduct such as tax evasion, leaking sensitive information and refusing to testify in other workers' disciplinary cases.
The rule would extend OPM's existing power to designate job applicants as unsuitable for federal employment, to current federal employees, a change it said was necessary to hold government workers accountable to the public. Federal workers have for decades been covered by an array of job protections, including the ability to contest firings by engaging in a lengthy administrative process.
The proposal would allow agencies to refer misconduct cases to OPM instead of going through the traditional disciplinary process. If OPM determines that removal of an employee is required, an agency would have five days to terminate them. "Illogically, the government has far greater ability to bar someone from federal employment who has committed a serious crime or misconduct in the past than it does to remove someone who engages in the exact same behavior as a federal employee," OPM said in the proposal. The publication of the proposal kicked off a 30-day public comment period.
Read more: https://www.reuters.com/business/world-at-work/trump-administration-moves-fast-track-firings-federal-workers-misconduct-2025-06-03/
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