One federal employee said in a court filing that they “cannot in good conscience pretend to agree with President Trump’s policies.”
Government employees asked a federal judge Wednesday to block the Trump administration from encouraging job applicants to demonstrate their loyalty to the president’s agenda.
In a lawsuit filed earlier this month, a group of federal labor unions argues that the White House’s “merit hiring plan” violates applicants’ First Amendment rights. The plan, put forth by the Office of Personnel Management, includes the following short essay question:
“How would you help advance the President’s Executive Orders and policy priorities in this role? Identify one or two relevant Executive Orders or policy initiatives that are significant to you, and explain how you would help implement them if hired.”
That’s how a lot of the deeply “set in” authoritarian empires have started you know.
A lot of people unhappy with the situation but just keeping quiet and pretending to go along with shit. Until years pass and a whole new generation of government workers who grew up with all this as normal come in and sign the oaths with a shrug and a smile.
That’s how you end up in a trial with your only defense being “I was just following orders.”