Donald Trump is bulldozing through decades of nonpartisan federal employment protections in a brazen attempt to transform the entire government workforce into a cadre of personal loyalists, according to alarmed federal workers and public service watchdogs.
The authoritarian makeover would obliterate longstanding precedent requiring federal hiring and promotion based on qualifications and experience—replacing it with ideological purity tests that prioritize devotion to Trump over competence or constitutional duty.
"These employees could be replaced with partisan loyalists — people who will obey any order, regardless of the Constitution," warned Joe Spielberger of the Project on Government Oversight, told the Washington Post. "This elevates loyalty to an individual president over the oath of office and the best interests of the public."
Trump's radical restructuring includes forcing new federal workers to accept easily-fired "at-will" status or pay higher retirement contributions. Even more disturbing, job applicants must now write essays explaining how they'll advance Trump's personal agenda—a chilling loyalty test reminiscent of authoritarian regimes.
The administration's "Merit Hiring Plan" requires candidates to answer: "How would you help advance the President's Executive Orders and policy priorities in this role?" the Post reported. The article added that federal workers are horrified by the transparent political screening.
"That memo details this administration's sordid strategy to turn a nonpartisan federal workforce into a merry band of MAGA loyalists," said Aisha Coffey, an FDA communications specialist who was fired and is now on administrative leave. "The directive is clear: The civil service is to serve the president, first and foremost, and the American population last."
Thirteen federal employees across seven agencies described the transformation as a "direct assault on the foundational principles of public service" designed to gut expert-staffed government and replace it with political cronies.
Trump is also reviving his dangerous "Schedule F" classification to strip job protections from tens of thousands of policy-related civil servants—effectively making them fireable at will for political reasons.
The systematic dismantling targets laws like the 1883 Pendleton Act and 1978 Civil Service Reform Act, which specifically prohibited firing government workers for political reasons and established merit-based hiring through competitive examinations.
Career employees are fleeing in droves, with computer developers, scientists, and lawyers abandoning government service as job security evaporates.
"What is the draw anymore if the mission is rooted in who the president is and your job can be taken without warning or process?" asked one Labor Department attorney. "Who in their right mind will ever take a gamble on a government job again?"
Employment law experts warn the political essay requirements could trigger widespread discrimination lawsuits, calling such questions "very atypical" outside policy positions.
"These questions would only yield candidates who actively seek to undermine or thwart the laws and regulations we have to operate under," said one EPA staffer who previously managed federal hiring.
The wholesale politicization represents Trump's revenge against career civil servants he claims obstructed his first-term agenda—and effectively turns America's professional bureaucracy into a personal political weapon, the Post wrote.