Republican Mega-Bill Charges Federal Workers for Basic Rights on the Job

[Passages]

If the spending bill is passed, an estimated three-quarters of eligible federal workers may be coerced into at-will employment.

by Emma Janssen June 3, 2025


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Deep in the Republicans’ behemoth spending bill is a provision that would coerce federal workers to give up their employment protections, an escalation of the Trump administration’s wide-ranging attack on the civil service.

If passed with the House provision intact, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act would require all federal workers hired after the effective date to elect to become at-will employees or functionally lose a chunk of their paycheck. If they choose the at-will employee option, the bill says, they “may be subject to an adverse action up to and including removal, without notice or right to appeal, by the head of the agency at which the individual is employed for good cause, bad cause, or no cause at all.”

SNIP
Any employee hired after the bill goes into effect who does not give up their employee protections will see their mandatory retirement contributions rise precipitously—which amounts to taking money out of their paychecks. Not all federal workers will be required to make this decision, which primarily affects those in the competitive service. Some workers who focus on confidential issues or policies are exempted from the competitive service and also from this provision.
https://prospect.org/politics/2025-06-03-republican-mega-bill-charges-federal-workers-for-basic-rights/