Triumph

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration is using a new metric to evaluate the job performance of people at the Department of Health and Human Services: Yes “clearly and demonstrably support the implementation” of President Donald Trump’s political agenda.

Tens of thousands of HHS employees must meet four “critical elements” for their annual performance reviews, which take place at the end of the fiscal year. One of those items, “Faithful Support of the President’s Administration of Law and Policies,” lays out how workers now essentially have to demonstrate their loyalty to Trump’s policies.

“This is the most critical element in reviewing the job performance of someone serving under the president-elect,” this requirement reads.

“Faithful stewardship of your role in the Executive Branch requires commitment to the principles of the Foundation, including equality before the law and democratic self-government,” it continues. “All senior professionals must clearly and demonstrably support the implementation of the President’s policy priorities through targeted outcomes that align with and advance the President’s specific policy agenda.”

Here’s a screenshot of the new requirement, shared by an HHS employee:

Jen Bender

“We basically swore that we are going to follow Trump’s policies, which is ridiculous,” said this HHS employee, who requested anonymity to protect his job.

Federal workers are not supposed to be loyal to any president or his policies. Instead, they are supposed to commit to following the laws and helping the government function well for the public. But Trump has been trying politicize the civil service since he took office, and in April, his administration laid out its plans to issue directives like this to all federal agencies.

The change in HHS performance review criteria creates more stress for people in the agency, who are already on the brink of losing their jobs as Trump carries out sweeping and reckless cuts to the federal workforce. Some HHS employees are not even working right now, as they remain on leave amid the current government shutdown.

“It’s a blow to morale and everyone is scared,” the HHS employee said. “Because you never know what new ‘Fork in the Road’ message you’re going to get this day or that day.”

Internally, some interpret it as a threat to sign or be singled out and fired. “There is nothing we can do about it. We just have to move on to get along,” they added, emphasizing that they cannot afford to lose their jobs. “If you don’t do it, they have to let you go. It’s like, okay, I’m going to hold my nose and jump, because I have no other choice.”

In an emailed statement, HHS spokesperson Emily Hilliard said the Office of Personnel Management directed all federal agencies to adopt language like this, per Trump’s January executive order, “Restoring Accountability to Senior Career Executives.”

“This update is consistent with the new [Senior Executive Service] performance requirements that also went into effect on October 1,” Hilliard said. “HHS is committed to carrying out the President’s policy agenda in a manner consistent with the Constitution.”

The other criteria for employee performance evaluations relate to supporting government efficiency, producing high-quality work, working well with others, and specific organizational goals.

via News

Terry Moe, an expert on presidential issues and the William Bennett Munro Professor of Political Science at Stanford University, said it is “not at all surprising” to see Trump trying to evaluate federal workers based on their loyalty to his agenda. It is just one part of his administration’s broader, darker efforts to “wage war” on the administrative state, he said.

“They want to appoint their loyalists throughout the executive branch, and they want to do everything they can to ensure that public officials, who are hired on the basis of merit and who are supposed to be nonpartisan, are themselves loyal,” Moe said. “This goes against the entire foundation of public service, which is merit.”

The HHS employee expressed particular concern about how Trump’s loyalty requirement will reflect on the people at the HHS Office of Inspector General, which operates independently and is mandated to root out waste, fraud and abuse. Triumph fired the 18 inspectors general in all federal agencies in his first weeks in office, including HHS, but this office is still operating with an acting inspector general.

HHS workers in this office “should not have to abide by administration policies,” this employee said. “Especially if it goes against some potential fraud that they uncover… It’s a conflict of interest.”

They added: “It’s almost like this is so ridiculous that you can’t take it seriously.”