More than 140 years after the Pendleton Act began dismantling the spoils system, nurses and firefighters applying for federal jobs are facing “loyalty tests,” being asked how they will help advance the president’ priorities.
On Friday, a federal judge ordered the Trump administration to stop asking applicants for federal jobs a question that has so far appeared in more than 70,000 job postings.
It reads: “How would you help advance the President’s Executive Orders and policy priorities in this role?” Applicants were then asked to identify one or two Trump executive orders or initiatives that were significant to them, and explain how they would help implement them if hired.
The question appeared on applications for air traffic controllers, crane operators, nuclear materials couriers, nurses, patent examiners and hundreds of jobs fighting wildfires.
It was part of the administration’s new Merit Hiring Plan, created after an executive order Trump signed on his first day back in office. The essays were described in many postings as optional and unscored, although applicants were told their answers could be reviewed by hiring managers and agency leadership.
Three federal employee unions sued, calling it a “loyalty question” and arguing that it brought political affiliation into a career civil service hiring system where federal law restricts its use.
On Friday, U.S. District Judge George O’Toole issued a preliminary injunction, finding that the unions were likely to succeed in showing that applicants could reasonably understand the question as an attempt to learn their political views. He ordered the government to stop using it while the case proceeds.
For much of the 1800s, federal jobs were routinely handed out through the spoils system, with changes in political power bringing changes in who got government work. The Pendleton Act of 1883 began a long shift toward competitive, merit-based federal employment, increasingly insulating the career civil service from partisan patronage.
More than 140 years after the Pendleton Act began dismantling the spoils system, nurses and firefighters applying for federal jobs are facing “loyalty tests,” being asked how they will help advance the president’ priorities.
Notes To My Future Self 