Senate Democrats on Wednesday launched an investigation into the Trump administration's effort to give political appointees the maximum allowable salary while it fires career civil servants en masse, dismantles entire federal agencies, and works in concert with Republican lawmakers to gut safety net programs.
In a letter to Trump's Office of Personnel Management (OPM), Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and seven other Democratic senators raised alarm over an April 10 OPM memo that removed career human resources officials from appointment and salary processes and urged federal agency heads to pay policy-setting Schedule C appointees the max salary of $195,200 per year.
"This memo, coupled with the administration's widespread layoffs of career government workers who have loyally served in the executive branch for presidents of both political parties, makes clear your intention: fire dedicated public servants in droves, cut essential government services, and use taxpayer dollars to instead hire underqualified and overpaid political cronies," the senators wrote to Acting OPM Director Charles Ezell.
"Schedule C hires are not career civil servants. They will not be answering phones at Social Security field offices or conducting food inspections or fighting wildfires," the lawmakers continued. "They do not work for the American people; they work to advance the political agenda of the president. OPM's April 10 memo makes clear the Trump administration's ultimate goal is to decimate the nonpolitical career civil service and use taxpayer dollars to enrich and reward political allies, all at the cost of the government services that people rely on."
"Padding the pockets of political operatives while firing food safety inspectors is nothing short of an egregious abuse of taxpayer dollars and massively wasteful," they added.
"Your memo encourages agencies to help install loyalists who have not been properly vetted, in critically important positions—and to pay them at the highest possible rate."
The Senate Democrats demanded that Ezell provide them with salary information for political appointees and job descriptions for those hired at the maximum salary level of $195,200, which the lawmakers noted is roughly five times the median income for a single individual in the United States.
"While this administration pushes out scores of public servants and guts entire agencies, often in defiance of Congress and federal law," the Democrats wrote, "your memo encourages agencies to help install loyalists who have not been properly vetted, in critically important positions—and to pay them at the highest possible rate."
Following the release of OPM's memo last month, Government Executive observed that "traditionally, while the selection of Schedule C appointees is typically the job of the White House or an agency's White House liaison, career HR employees evaluate an incoming appointee's resume and experience, ensure they are properly vetted, and provide input about the appointee's proposed starting salary."
By removing career HR officials from the appointment process, the memo "appears aimed at expediting the replacement of career workers with political appointees," the outlet reported—advancing a top goal of the Trump administration and its far-right allies.
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