SEA Applauds President Biden’s Reversal of Trump Era Workforce Executive Order
WASHINGTON, DC –Today, Bob Corsi, Interim President of the Senior Executives Association (SEA) – the nonprofit, nonpartisan professional association that has since 1980 been the voice of the career Senior Executive Service (SES) and senior career leaders across the federal government – released the following statement regarding President Biden’s action to rescind several executive orders signed by former President Trump:
“The executive order creating a Schedule F in the federal excepted service was an affront to the merit system. SEA rigorously applauds President Biden for taking immediate actions to rescind this executive order and defend the merit system against the spoils system. It would have been easy for President Biden to use Schedule F to embed his own unaccountable, partisan personnel into the federal system. Instead, President Biden chose against executive overreach in favor of responsible governance. We commend this action and the message it sends to our federal workforce that they serve the American people and not a political party,”Interim President Corsi said.
Corsi continued,“President Biden echoed this sentiment in his address to all career federal employees this week calling for unity in service to all Americans. Government leadership sets the tone for all civil servants and President Biden is setting the correct tone. We hope the president’s political leaders continue this message of respect regardless of political affiliation so our nation’s civil servants can work together on their important missions.”
“President Biden has also taken actions to rescind the three federal workforce executive orders put in place in 2018 by former-President Trump. These rescissions are unsurprising given the criticism these orders have received from many federal employee unions,”Corsi furthered.“SEA does not support the ‘union busting’ executive orders clearly aimed at undermining union protections. However, employee protections and accountability are not mutually exclusive. Former-President Trump’s executive orders calling for a stronger and streamlined accountability system had merit. Public trust in government has declined considerably over the last 50 years, accountability and transparency play a critical role in rebuilding this trust.”
“Ultimately, employee protections cannot hamstring managers from effectively leading their agencies. Respecting federal employees means valuing them enough to value the development of the federal workforce and modernization of federal operations. Through strong leadership, employee protections, and management excellence, the federal government will be able to better serve the American people and restore trust in government services. The success of President Biden’s agenda relies on the success of the federal workforce. SEA looks forward to working with the Administration and Congress to cultivate that success. We encourage President Biden and Congress to work with a diverse array of good government advocates to ensure we have an accountable and engaged workforce.”Corsi concluded.
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The Senior Executives Association (SEA) is a professional association representing Senior Executive Service members and other career Federal leaders. Founded in 1980, SEA’s goals are to improve the efficiency, effectiveness, and productivity of the Federal government; to advance the professionalism and advocate the interests of career Federal executives; and to enhance public recognition of their contributions.
For more information, visitwww.seniorexecs.org.
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