in management at a prime federal contractor's site
in oak ridge TN years ago, anyone who successfully
fired anyone for any reason was celebrated as a hero
forever. . discrete, easy-evidence things like time clock
data forgery were the only areas which lent themselves
to firing-for-cause. . nothing in the area of word-of-mouth
evidence worked, it seemed. . very difficult! -- j
.

I bet trump could do it.

World's smallest book.

I was a contractor at a federal agency for a while... they were entitled to a board review for moving their work location to a different cubicle.. such as with or without a window, as that impacted their 'working conditions'.

Move on, nothing to see here. At least nothing that I and probably you haven't been aware of for more than 20 years.

Sad, but true.

The only criticism I would have of his article is the use of the term "federal worker". My brother is employed by the State of Oregon. When I first called him a "state worker" he corrected me by saying he was a "state employee"; calling him a "worker" assumed too much.

I remember the revelation for Condoleeza Rice when she wanted to reorganize the executive staff at the Department of State. Under the rules governing civil service employment at State, any change in a senior bureaucrat's position (hiring, firing, downgrade, reassignment) was subject to approval by a board of those same bureaucrats. That essentially meant the Secretary was powerless to remove corrupt or underperforming employees.

Dan Goldin was brought in to set NASA straight, and quickly found the regional fiefdoms in Houston, Huntsville had such tight ties to powerful Senators that they could openly ignore any attempt to change business as usual. This is pretty much the norm for all government agencies.

I have little hope that any President can perform the wholesale cutbacks that are absolutely needed in the Federal workforce. Union busting has to take place, but that faces an uphill battle as well.

In the department I worked it was a common event when an employee was not cutting it they either transferred him/her or promoted them up and therefor out of the position. Pass a bad employee off to some other place so they are no longer a problem for the supervisors. It was so much easier than trying to fire.

From the Article:
"Morris called government worker unions the “snake inside of the tent” and called on the next president and his or her senior advisers to make civil service management reform a high priority."

For all of his faults, this is something that Trump could take on as President. How many times have the American people heard him say "You're fired" on The Apprentice? At least they wouldn't be surprised.

Also From the Article:
"The first step, he said, is cutting the federal workforce — drastically.

“The first thing you need to do is downsize the government by about two million people,” Coburn said. There are about 2.7 million people working in the executive branch, according to OPM. But Coburn doubts Congress has the willpower to do anything drastic."
So why isn't Tom Coburn running for President?

I would like to see a published list of civil servants who were fired each year since 2000.

Rather than listen to what changes/modifications to government programs the Republican candidates are proposing, I want to know what programs they plan to ELIMINATE!

Indeed not. He did seem back in focus with Hannity about an hour later, though.

Maybe, but it did not inspire great confidence.

I saw that, he did seem to blather on. On the other hand, he had just spent two hours on the receiving end of attacks from everyone except Kasich. He was probably exhausted.

Exactly. There is just something that is so wrong with this whole mess. I just watched Trump in an interview with OReilly, and while he is supremely confidant, he just seems to blather on. It is scary to think of him as President, but on the other hand, it is scarier to think of the alternatives. There is no such thing as a "statesman" anymore, and hasn't been for probably 100 years. The HillaryBeast thing is just an arrogant presumption of royalty, she really, really believes she is above the law, in many ways. Anyone who does a close look at what she has done as SecState and her foundation, and does not label her a traitor, is denying the truth. There were way too many "things" that magically happened in foreign countries, with huge donations to the Foundation right afterwards. All of her supporters will just ignore whatever does not fit their model, as well as the same for Republicrats. It is a very bad situation, but only 1% of our population is willing to even think about it.

It seems like you can break any rule or law as a fed employee and be a front runner for the Presidency.Sheeez what is going on in people's heads ? I guess nothing!!😥👎👎👎👎

This has been common knowledge in my sphere (US Navy) since the 80's. We knew the federal shipyard people could not get fired, even when we caught them stealing and looting the boat itself. One guy was caught in Philly NSY with a whole truckload of mahogany wood that was for our deck, and sold it. The gave him a letter of censure. That was in 1979. Nothing has changed, which is why we are where we are. It is also why crappy service is their standard. The VA story was one of nightmares. Yet the sheeple continue to endorse the corrupt system, as long as they get what they want.

In my experience this is completely true. My wife worked for US DoJ and WI legislature and from what she tells me it's a total gravy train. She says you cannot get your mind around it if you've never worked in it.