Forest Service employees have endured a tumultuous nine months since Donald Trump returned to the White House. With promises to “shatter the Deep State” and downsize the federal workforce, the president appointed an Office of Management and Budget director who said federal employees “are increasingly viewed as villains,” who he wants to “put in trauma.”
Trump authorized unfettered access for the Department of Government Efficiency to review government functions and create new levels of approvals (so much for efficiency). He appointed the first-ever Forest Service chief with no agency experience. Typical of this administration, it made political appointments that are pulling the Forest Service in different directions. Some want to see the agency disbanded. Some prefer a Forest Service reduced to a fraction of its former size. Others emphasize efficiency, mainly by trimming the workforce.
So, what has work been like for employees?
When the new chief was appointed, he scheduled agency-wide all-hands calls, but the calls were canceled — including one at the very last minute. Employees were asked to submit five things they accomplished each week, yet when responses were submitted, they bounced back because the inbox was full. Forest Service employees — along with other federal employees — have been encouraged to abandon their careers in the face of a reduction-in-force plan that could result in layoffs, relocations, reassignments, or demotions.
Employees on temporary probation — largely new employees representing the next generation of civil servants but also some seasoned employees — have been fired, reinstated, and then encouraged to resign. Applications for federal jobs are now a loyalty test, with four questions asking how applicants will align with the administration and its priorities. As the Supreme Court grants broad authority to the Executive Branch, it appears that the era of nonpartisan government workers is ending. We are returning to the cronyism and patronage of the 1800s.
Unsurprisingly, we are experiencing the largest resignation of civil servants in U.S. history. Around 300,000 left the government from February through September. Around 5,000-6,000 employees left the Forest Service, about 15-20% of the workforce. Remaining Forest Service employees say, “Work is nearly impossible” in this “chaotic” work environment characterized by “false start after false start.”
The Deep State is often mis-characterized as civil servants carrying out an undemocratic shadow agenda. But there is actually a deeper force — amorphous, apolitical, and affirming — that is proving resistant to the current situation. It is the dedication of federal employees who believe in good governance and effective civil service, including agency employees striving for responsible stewardship of our land and resources. FSEEE applauds the civil servants of the Forest Service who are caring for our treasured lands. Ensuring federal actions and decision-making are transparent, legal, and inclusive of public input resists the erosion of the civil service and reinforces our democracy. In times like these, the quiet determination of federal workers conducting their work provides a real beacon of hope.
Sincerely,
A 30-year Forest Service employee
