What will Trump’s executive order mean for the future of the civil service?

Less than two weeks before Election Day, President Trump issued an executive order which will strip job protections from civil service employees that prevent them from being fired at will, undermining the procedures supporting a merit-based civil service. Scott Anderson delves into the complex legal background and history of these civil service protections and—depending on the outcome of the election—whether a lame-duck Trump administration would be still able to implement such sweeping changes before an incoming Biden administration.

Related material: 

• Policy 2020: Public service and the federal government
• The US civil service: Protectors of the republic

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Thanks to audio producer Gaston Reboredos and Ryan Jacobs, Chris McKenna, Fred Dews, Marie Wilken, and Camilo Ramirez for their support.