Villain or Hero

Non-partisan civil servants are real people doing real jobs. In January of 2025, about 2.3 million civil servants served 330 million people as civilian employees of the Army, Airforce, Coast Guard, Navy, Defense, Veteran’s Affairs, Agriculture, Commerce, Justice, Labor, Education, Social Security and Small Business Administrations, and many other federal organizations.

Civil servants live in all states, they are your neighbors, their children are in your schools, and their spouses have businesses in your town. They often get paid less than their counterparts in the private sector, yet their duties uphold constitutional rights (justice, tranquility, defense, welfare and liberty) for the country.

Civil servants are not the enemy that this administration publicly paints them as, and by the time those in power tell the truth about this . . . it may be too late for them and the public they serve.

Federal Workforce Basics

The USA’s supreme law, the constitution, was ratified in 1787 to protect citizens from tyranny and provide for justice, tranquility, defence, welfare and liberty. The constitution also outlines checks and balances so that both governance and protecting the governed “from a government that might fall victim to political whims” is possible. Though civil servants are technically part of the executive branch, they do not take an oath to obey the president (in accordance with lawful orders) as the military does.

In fact, the civil servant oath specifically states, “support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic . . .” Checks and balances in civil service include employee’s performance being managed by supervisors who receive their agency’s overall direction from relevant cabinet heads (nominated by the president and approved by congress). The Inspectors General and the Government Accountability Office also conduct audits and investigations on the civil service per reports and/or request.

On the walls of federal workplaces, the current president’s picture holds a place of honor though the Hatch Act prohibits federal employees from expressing partisan views at work. On the flip side, the civil service is often used politically by presidents. For example, Clinton (D) significantly reduced the federal workforce, Bush (43, R) outsourced many federal positions, and Obama (D) froze federal pay for years.

In January of 2025, 80% of federal civil servants worked and lived in states other than D.C. (anywhere that includes roads, crops, utilities, military bases, veterans, etc.). The small size of the federal workforce (7 civil servants for every 1000 people) cannot provide all necessary research, services, supplies, construction, etc. So, civil servant contracting officers also write and administer contracts (see “Savings or Cost” blog for more on this).

Military veterans are often drawn to civil service to retain some sense of Esprit de Corps, which explains why they make up about 25% of the federal workforce. For the other 75% who are not veterans, civil service also provides an avenue to serve their country (i.e. in engineering, medical, administrative, electronics, legal, accounting, veterinary medicine, science, maintenance, repair, military training, etc.).

One Civil Servant’s Story

“I enlisted in the Army out of high school because I didn’t trust myself to figure out my life from my small town in the Midwest. Plus, I needed money for college and figured the military couldn’t be too bad after farm and ranch work. It was way harder than I thought it would be, but within months there was nothing I wasn’t capable of. When my 3-year term was up, I didn’t feel like I “fit in” anymore. So, I enlisted for the Active Reserves while in college, taking on jobs that offered a kind of high that only existed in my BDUs.

After graduating college, I climbed the while collar ladder of success for several years. But I was miserable inside, so I ended up trading my suit to work in a military motor pool for a DoD contract that paid $10/hour to support maintenance and repair of track and wheeled vehicles for warfighters in Iraq and Afghanistan. I loved what I did, but my job was in question every year at time of contract renewal, so every evening for 2 years, I submitted applications on USAjobs.com.

Countless applications later, I was selected for a job with the Coast Guard in a remote location. My starting pay was $33,000, less than what I made at the bank 8 years prior. I was 37 years old and didn’t know which job I was selected for since I’d applied for so many . . . and I didn’t care. I could drive a forklift, perform accounting or administrative tasks, clean up explosives or bathrooms, construct facilities or guard buildings, and would be proud to do any or all of those functions. Turns out I was the new assistant to the only civilian contracting officer on the base.

I was issued coveralls, work boots and safety gear to enter various facilities and ascertain that tax dollars were achieving base readiness for the Coast Guard and Navy Seals at a fair price. The more I learned, the more I understood the positive difference that one person could make on behalf of many. I was hooked but needed to move if I wanted advancement. So, less than 2 years later, I barged my belongings across the country again.

My new job with the Army offered advancement and more responsibility (administering 30 contracts with local businesses for the Army installation’s readiness). Previously in my civilian life, I’d been a cashier, housekeeper, waiter, loan officer, and substitute teacher, but my new workload made all of those jobs pale in comparison. Required professional training meant being gone for 1-2 weeks at a time across the U.S. for the next 2 years for fiscal law, defense systems, cost analysis, contract structuring, etc. And in 2008, my office also took on early adoption of 100% electronic files to ensure government efficiency and transparency. My greatest passion was creating win-win solutions for the government, taxpayer and local businesses. I woke up each day excited for work for a decade before I felt motivated to seek a new challenge.

Next, I became an auditor for the VA to help hundreds of contracting officers be more efficient, which in turn helped thousands of veterans get what they needed. On weekends, I volunteered at the local Veteran’s hospital to witness the care our veterans were receiving. And for the first time in 20 years, I thought of myself as a veteran too. Before that, pride in needing nothing from a country beyond another way to serve it had prevented me from seeking solace or community.

I eventually returned to the Army to get back “home”, this time under a different classification to fill in for a reservist deployed to Afghanistan. This was the only job of my life that wasn’t challenging enough, and since there was a federal hiring freeze, I left federal service and created my own job, worked virtually, set my own hours and named my own pay. Then one day I received a phone call from the USDA who had important work that seemed to be perfect for me. It took a promise of remote work (as my health by that time required special accommodations), but soon I was teaming up with scientists, agronomists, veterinarians, forestry technicians, import and export inspectors and so on. That initial call turned into 5 years and hundreds of projects of nationwide and international work to protect domestic food supply, local farmers, and the U.S. public from disease, decimation and economic destruction.

Throughout my career, I served under Reagan, Bush, Clinton, Bush Jr., Obama, Trump, Biden and then Trump again . . . all of them impacting changes across the federal service sector. I didn’t always agree with the changes but never baulked at doing the job. During the Obama administration, I watched the administration reduce the workforce in an efficient manner that also preserved individual dignity. My agency complied with the president’s directives, some of which included hiring freezes and grade restructuring, but I was always proud to be a part of our country’s plan.

My country and its future means everything to me. Nearly every one of my hundreds of co-workers had a similar sense of duty and love for their country. Through all my years of service, the high standards and expectations, importance of work being done, wide diversity of people, and exceptional care amongst federal employees with one another and with their responsibilities exceeded anywhere I’ve known. However, within 2 months of President Trump’s 2nd presidency, I am no longer an official public servant. BTW, I didn’t take the deferred resignation as it went against the principles of transparency to taxpayers engrained in me.

Members of my own family have posted cruel and untrue messages about civil servants on social media in response to effective vilification by the highest levels of “leadership”. You can’t “delete” that hatefulness. But my deepest pain has been the refusal of some of my family to talk about what transpired to result in my leaving service - because they call it “politics”. I wish it were that simple, but it is not. Service to country was my life”.

Intentional Waste

Some of President Trump’s recent statements about federal employees include that they are “destroying this country,” are “crooked,” “dishonest” and “unnecessary,” that they act as “unelected bureaucrats”, are hired under practices that “no longer focus on merit, practical skill, and dedication to our Constitution”, are receiving paychecks but they “don’t even exist.” and that virtual or telework federal employees are “not working.” And President Trump’s OMB Director, a self-proclaimed Christian Nationalist author of Project 2025, Russell Vought, stated that federal employees are “hurting hard-working American citizens”, and “we want to put them in trauma.”

Elon Musk, in charge of the Department of Government Efficiency, has not previously worked as a U.S. public servant and is not a veteran, and his methods are less professional than the civil service has likely ever seen at work - such as mass emails in the middle of the night that look like junk mail, threats of firing for not exposing anything that includes DEIA, demands to justify jobs or get fired, bribes of deferred resignation not approved through checks and balances, illegal termination of probationary workers under non-existent poor performance, inferences about employees being parasites, and on and on.

Every organization has opportunities to become more efficient. For the Civil Service, that is precisely why OPMs Reduction in Force policy exists in Title 5, Code of Federal Regulations, Part 351. That is also why numerous independent Inspector Generals (now fired by Trump without required notice) were in place to report on real data regarding waste, fraud, abuse and misconduct that could be used for the public and lawmaker’s rational decision making.

However, the methods in place at the administration’s disposal that are proven to work most efficiently and save the most money for the entire country, based on previously well thought out and debated regulations and factual information, were not employed. Instead, in the interest of traumatizing civil servants, U.S. taxpayers are paying more. Everything done incorrectly or illegally needs to be redone, many employees are being rehired with additional costs in new equipment, and service to taxpayers is being compromised.

For example, one VA physician that provided services to veterans requiring telehealth for various reasons was required to stop working from home and start working in a newly rented shared office with others . . . so that doctor can no longer see patients because of HIPPA and veterans are paying the ultimate price for these new wasted efficiencies. Traumatization in the name of amplifying fraud, waste and abuse has been successful. "I've never felt more betrayed in my entire life," said one public servant who is also a veteran.

Across the board cuts mean that systems that serve the public’s constitutional rights will break. If the systems are broken, the public loses access to rights. You won’t know what public service you needed or loved the most until you don’t have it. The current administration’s notion is that privatization will be worth short-term pain. However, privatization also requires costly oversight, or it becomes more expensive quickly. We know this because privatization of government is not a new concept - it has been a focus of all administrations since President Bush. One could spend years reading all of the reports available on trials, lessons learned and most efficient implementation practices . . . none of which are being currently utilized.

The economy also loses out, not so much in the highly populated cities with concentrations of federal civilian employees that can find new work near where they live, but in the small towns across the nation where federal employees were located because of their federal job duties. That loss of federal jobs in small towns will hurt rural America the worst. Those civil servants will leave places that have proven they are not wanted, and with them goes their families and important parts of the local economy.

Perhaps the greatest waste the country will endure is loss of qualified people. Many government jobs are highly technical and require years to understand and execute win-win-win methods for serving the constitution, taxpayers and businesses. Without those people, our country gets to start over . . . and during that learning curve, everyone pays more for less (except for large businesses who get more money in times of deregulation and chaos).

Prior to January 21st, 2025, if a civil servant was asked by a neighbor, family member, or complete stranger to explain why and what they did in their position, they likely would have answered with much humility and reverence for their country. But as of March 2025, that same federal employee’s answer may include unspoken grief, confusion, and deep concern for their country that they fear saying out loud. Which employee would you rather have working for you?

As of March 2025, a presidential campaign of threats, harassment and illegal actions has resulted in the throwing away of 220,000 federal civilian employees with many more to come. This wasted efficiency is perhaps one of the most expensive human capital and customer service mistakes ever made. Except that it was intentional.

A Better Future

The federal workforce provides needed services to uphold the constitution for the people of their country. When across the board cuts are made without careful mission consideration or without following law and regulations in place, the public gets less service at a higher cost. But every organization has opportunities to become more efficient, so what is the answer?

1. Inform the public. Be honest. Tell people where they can find facts about agency missions and workforce details. Break relevant information down into real world meaning.

2. Ask the servants. Most public servants will be the first to tell you where waste exists and how to get rid of it. They will help.

3. Enact agency reform based upon requested independent audits from Inspectors General and/or GAO. Agency heads and administrations can (and have) use(d) used specific reports to address problems and increase efficiencies quickly.

4. Report back to the people. After good reform is enacted, report on what worked to promote better customer service at lower cost, and what didn’t work as well as it should.

5. Repeat the process on a regular basis (more than every 4 years). Let the people of this country, their public servants, IGs the GAO work together for the best outcome possible.