Abstract
Delivering on a campaign promise to bring the administrative state to heel by making every executive branch employee fireable at will, the White House has issued executive orders and proposed regulations reducing the scope of the 150-year-old federal civil service law and eliminating union rights and whistleblower protections for federal employees. Invoking a radical conception of presidential power under Article II of the Constitution, they have summarily fired tens of thousands of civil servants without cause or process. This unprecedented consolidation of power in the White House contravenes 150 years of historical practice. Empirical studies of the effects of civil service protections show that laws promoting nonpartisan civil service tend to create higher quality and more efficient government services and to reduce corruption. Moreover, these executive actions are inconsistent with several federal statutes, as well as both Article II and the First Amendment to the Constitution.
How to Cite
67 Ariz. L. Rev. 629 (2025)
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