Should an ideological purity test be applied to federal employees?

Conservative group’s ‘watch list’ targets federal employees for firing

An organization funded by the conservative Heritage Foundation has compiled an online “watch list” of federal employees it claims cannot be trusted to secure the U.S. border and should be fired, a sign that supporters of Donald Trump’s immigration policies are preparing to help him neutralize the administrative state they believe tried to thwart his first presidency.

The “DHS Bureaucrat Watch List” — a website unveiled in the final weeks of a presidential campaign in which immigration is a key issue — names 51 federal policy experts and high-ranking leaders, the majority of whom are career civil servants at the Department of Homeland Security and other agencies. The group identified them largely using public social media comments, prior work experience and campaign finance records.

Among the employees’ actions cited by the group are posts celebrating the legalization of same-sex marriage or lauding the contributions and successes of undocumented immigrants, as well as donations as little as $10 to Democratic candidates. One employee union likened the effort to unearth the private views of public employees to Sen. Joseph McCarthy’s 1950s-era campaign to purge federal workers he accused of being communists.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/2024/11/02/federal-career-employees-watchlist-trump/

I suspect getting trumples to answer the question posed in the subject line will be a bit like herding cats but I'm asking you folks to do so anyway.

Should a federal employee be faced with the risk of termination for the views he/she holds on something like the legally protected right (Obergefell) to same sex marriage? What does a person's opinion on same sex marriage have to do with their competence to do their job?

Is it possible the threat of termination could be used as a means of intimidation to get federal employees to comply with directives that are in violation of the law?

Would you trump supporters object if you learned Biden had compiled a list of federal employees earmarked for termination based on the employee's views regarding gun control?

 

its a great question posed in the OP (too bad you had to shove so much snark and hate into it)
The simple answer is NO, there should not be any kind of political ideological test

 

If Federal employees can't leave their politics at home, then they have no business working for the government.

 

PRESIDENT TRUMP’S PLAN TO SHATTER THE DEEP STATE AND RETURN POWER TO THE AMERICAN PEOPLE
Agenda47: President Trump’s Plan to Dismantle the Deep State and Return Power to the American People | Donald J. Trump For President 2024
Certified Website of Donald J. Trump For President 2024. America's comeback starts right now. Join our movement to Make America Great Again!
www.donaldjtrump.com

The question trumples should be asking themselves is whether trump actually intends to "return power to the American people" or whether he intends to enhance his own power?

BTW, the deep state is a fiction.

 

I think they should hire the most qualified and best workers regardless, I have heard that posted many times here.

 

Should a federal employee be faced with the risk of termination for the views he/she holds on something like the legally protected right (Obergefell) to same sex marriage?


Short answer no of course. I'm sorry but I don't trust the Post's reporting on this. There are other issues at play than gay marriage. Can you fire an employee for preforming their job in manner granting favoritism? The Lois Lerner case comes to mind. Using her position she deliberately sabotaged Non profit applications for Tea Party groups simply because she opposed them. She ended up retired, not fired.

 

If I had a dime for every time one of you folks claimed something you don't want to be true is fake news..............

 

Right, and they should be replaced by people that can't leave their political beliefs at home.

 

Yes, she retired, and after the investigation there wasn't any evidence that she made decisions based on her political beliefs.

 

No.

 

Well there has just been so much fake news...

 

Actually doing it wasn't considered evidence huh?

Lol!

 

Trump would insist on a Loyalty-to-Trump Test.

 

If the deep state is a fiction then who the hell is actually running the country at the moment?

Because it sure as hell isn't the president

 

What a perfect way to prove my point.

 

There is an amorphous collection of employees that staff the federal government. Then there is the trumpian, conspiratorial belief in the concerted, nefarious actions of those employees.

 

The imperial bureaucracy.

 

If I were elected as a republican president I would not hire any cabinet member or advisor who was not loyal to me. There would be plenty democrat journalist attacking me daily and giving me opposing advice.

 

Loyal to what extent? For example, let's make up a ridiculous hypothetical and say trump tried to install himself as the unelected leader of the country after losing the election. Do you think cabinet officials who resigned as a result would be being disloyal?

Don't you think cabinet officials should be faithful to their oath to uphold the Constitution rather than being loyal to the prez who picked them?

 

One can make the case that they are not traitorous. And note that is a very different question than whether or not a president should have the right to fill the upper levels of the bureaucracy with people who will carry out his orders rather than try to implement his own ideas in contravention of those orders.

 

Any position of leadership should not be about you, the leader - but about the well-being of the nation & its people.

I'd want intelligent people who actually cared about things that mattered - like people, the environment, and unity. The bonds of similar ideals - those which unite & empower us all - are unbreakable & far stronger than mere loyalty.

 

Aw come on man! I would never ask anyone to break the law or go against the Constitution or lie for me.
Look at the loyalty that Kamala gave Biden when she lied about his mental state. What about that? That did not put the country first!

You just described how you would want loyal people.
I have had many leadership rolls with foremen working under me. I always told them if they disagreed with one of my policies, we would discuss it in private. And we did. But in my opinion there are so many people disagreeing and second guessing a president he doesn't need an insider who does not support him.

 

No, it doesn't. She did it as part of the job.

 

Every employee in the Executive Branch works for the President. No unelected Staff Puke has a legitimate power to thwart the agenda of the Elected President.

 

Not loyal to 'me' - but loyal to the needs of the people & well-being of the nation. This kind of loyalty doesn't originate from blind reverence to a person - which can be counterproductive & even dangerous - but from the ability to reason & think logically.

In your case, if you're a self-less leader, you'd want people loyal to the company, its rules, and the well-being of their co-workers. Insiders who consistently sabotage your pursuance of your duties to your company & its employees can be reprimanded, demoted, or fired. You have to make subordinates understand that your duty is to your company & the well-being of all employees.