- Judge says no legitimate interest in asking applicants’ political beliefs
President Donald Trump’s administration from continuing to ask applicants for civil service jobs throughout the government to respond to what unions described as a partisan “loyalty question. U.S. The unions, including the American Federation of Government Employees, argued the question mandated by the Office of Personnel Management unlawfully politicized the hiring process for career government workers by attempting to assess their support for the Republican president. The other two unions are the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees and the National Association of Government Employees.
BOSTON, Sept 11 – A federal judge on Friday blocked U.S.
O’Toole, an appointee of Democratic President Bill Clinton, said the question had been asked of applicants to positions ranging from an air traffic control specialist to a crane operator to a nuclear materials courier. He said the unions’ members reasonably interpreted it as an attempt to determine the applicants’ political views, even though the Civil Service Reform Act bars making employment decisions for such jobs on the basis of political affiliation. “Requiring federal job applicants to answer politically motivated questions goes against the very nature of the nonpartisan civil service,” AFGE National President Everett Kelley said in a statement.
District Judge George O’Toole in Boston sided with three unions representing government workers who sued last year after the administration began asking applicants for nonpartisan federal jobs to write essays explaining how they would help advance Trump’s policies and executive orders.
