51 Percent of Federal Workforce Support Bid for Easy Firing

A survey conducted for Government Executive magazine found that 51 percent of federal civilian employees support President Trump’s effort making it easier to fire poorly performing federal employees. That figure includes 26 percent who strongly approve.[1]

Twenty-four percent oppose the effort and 20 percent are neutral.

Government Executive noted that President Trump’s executive orders streamlining the firing process "drew swift opposition from federal employee groups" and mixed reviews from outside observers. Lawsuits have been filed in an attempt to prevent the implementation of the president’s plan.

The survey also found that 42 perent of federal civilian employees have a positive view of federal employee unions while 25 percent have a negative view.

The survey is based on a sample of only 176 survey respondents, so the precise numbers should be viewed with caution. However, the magazine notes that the data concerning union approval is similar to earlier data.

An earlier Number of the Day reported that there were 16,000 fewer federal jobs after nine months of the Trump administration. Additionally, just 17 percent of federal workers are under 35 years old.

The challenge of poorly performing federal employees was highlighted by the fact that 213 IRS workers had been rehired after earlier termination or separation for misconduct.

In recent years, there has been a tremendous growth in regulation by the federal bureaucracy. There are currently 283,996 federal regulators: twice as many as in 1990 and five times as many as in 1960.

Trump’s executive orders are featured in Ballotpedia’s Administrative State Project, which examines the administrative and regulatory activities of the United States government. The project also covers concepts, laws, court cases, scholarly work, and other material related to the administrative state.

[1]Government Executive, "Survey: Half of Feds Support White House Attempts to Ease Firing Process," June 8, 2018

Each weekday, Scott Rasmussen’s Number of the Day explores interesting and newsworthy topics at the intersection of culture, politics, and technology. Columns published on Ballotpedia reflect the views of the author.​

Scott Rasmussen is founder and president of the Rasmussen Media Group. He is the author of "Mad as Hell: How the Tea Party Movement Is Fundamentally Remaking Our Two-Party System," "In Search of Self-Governance," and "The People’s Money: How Voters Will Balance the Budget and Eliminate the Federal Debt." Read more reports from Scott Rasmussen — Click Here Now.