
DOGE Demands Access: Interior Dept. CIOs Fired
Interior Department CIOs fired after pushing back against DOGE demands for access to federal employee payroll system. Concerns raised over data privacy and security. Leadership exodus ensues.
Interior Department CIOs fired after pushing back against DOGE demands for access to federal employee payroll system. Concerns raised over data privacy and security. Leadership exodus ensues.
The Trump administration appears to be preparing to comply with multiple court orders to quickly place tens of thousands of federal workers fired during their probationary periods, according to officials at three agencies briefed on the plans.
Education joins the Office of Personnel Management, General Services Administration and U.S. Agency for International Development in issuing widespread layoffs to date.
Staff in their probationary periodsâmostly recent hires, though in some cases longtime federal workersâreceived notice that they must report into the office Thursday and bring all of their government equipment, identification cards, parking permits and other documents.
The initial suit, filed in the Washington, D.C. District Court by two anonymous federal employees, claims OPM â working with Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency â violated the 2002 E-Government Act by bypassing a required privacy impact assessment, or PIA, before standing up the email platform.
Max Stier, president of the Partnership for Public Service, issued a statement Tuesday blasting the measure as one that, if successful, could create critical skills gaps at agencies and hurt mission delivery.
Former President Donald Trump has previously said he would âdismantle the deep stateâ and reinstitute his 2020 Schedule F policy to convert federal employees in policy-related positions to roles exempt from civil service protections, effectively making them easier to remove.
And federal HR leaders have repeatedly testified before Congress that they conduct oversight to ensure feds do not take advantage of telework agreements to receive more locality pay than they are entitled.
Silence prevents us from affirming that political identities are a valuable form of diversity and fuels subconscious and unconscious bias that could influence hiring decisions, promotions, and daily interactions.
"We must attract, recruit, and retain a skilled workforce with fair compensation in order to keep our government running, deliver services and meet our nation's challenges today and tomorrow," Biden wrote.
Stephanie Rapp-Tully, partner at Tully Rinckey PLLC who specializes in federal employment law, said by email in 2024 that there are still a lot of âgray areas and pitfallsâ with respect to the Hatch Act and telework.