Schedule F appointments (split from Today I Learned)

[DrmDoc]

Today I learned about Schedule F appointment, which is an insidious method of US government control and a subversive tool for those who aspire to dictatorship.  Schedule F appointments essentially allow the reclassification of potentially thousands of US government workers as political appointees who can be hired and fired at the whim of the Executive branch of US government regardless of qualifications.  Potentially, under Schedule F appointment if restored, a president can fire any so designated federal employee who conscientiously refuse his directives and replace them with a sycophant willing to do and say whatever he commands regardless of consequence.  I shiver at the thought of such power in the hands of a man as sociopathic and unscrupulous as Donald J. Trump--even more unnerving is that there could be a majority of America's voting population that wants him to have that power come this November elections.

[iNow]

16 minutes ago, DrmDoc said:

I learned about Schedule F appointment, which is an insidious method of US government control and a subversive tool for those who aspire to dictatorship

It’s part of a much larger and broader assault planned against democracy called Project 2025: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_2025

It’s a maximalist interpretation of the unitary executive theory which “asserts that the president has absolute power over the executive branch upon inauguration.”

 

[TheVat]

On 6/17/2024 at 7:58 AM, iNow said:

 

It’s a maximalist interpretation of the unitary executive theory which “asserts that the president has absolute power over the executive branch upon inauguration.”

 

Beyond maximalist, since Sched F extends to all of civil service, which includes all three branches. It is the entire civilian workforce of federal government.  I would like to see this insidious proposal be on everybody's "today I learned" before November.

[iNow]

7 hours ago, TheVat said:

I would like to see this insidious proposal be on everybody's "today I learned" before November.

Sadly, in a democracy, there are a great many for whom this would elicit further support of the people trying to move it forward. 

Anti-democratic ideologies are gaining traction, with great help from troll farms and AIs in use by adversary countries. 

 

"Because, therefore, we are defending a way of life, we must be respectful of that way of life as we proceed to the solution of our problem. We must not violate its principles and its precepts, and we must not destroy from within what we are trying to defend from without."

Eisenhower: Speech before NATO Council, 11/26/51 [DDE's Pre-Pres. Papers, Box 197]

[TheVat]

Ike had a knack for warnings that would reverberate through the decades to the present.  

Well, if the Magaists don't mind the fascistic aspects, they may find the spread of incompetence through the civil service a rude wake up.  

[swansont]

John Oliver discussed Schedule F in his latest episode 

 

[Phi for All]

The ultimate populism, an entire government workforce beholden to one person. In this case, a diseased, demented criminal extremist being propped up by more criminal extremists.

[Eise]

11 hours ago, swansont said:

John Oliver discussed Schedule F in his latest episode 

I saw it yesterday: this is extremely worrying.

[MSC]

On 6/20/2024 at 2:10 PM, swansont said:

John Oliver discussed Schedule F in his latest episode 

 

If Spirit animals were in any way scientific, John Oliver would be mine. 

Yeah this is terrifying. I can't even begin to fathom just how many areas of life and society in the US and abroad this could impact and in so many different ways. Especially when it comes to judicial civil servants and anything that touches law enforcement or the checks and balances apparatus that is supposed to define the very need for a 3 body government. Lets say Trump wins the election this year, inputs schedule F, in the next election, they could dismantle election integrity down to nothing, disenfranchisement on a mass scale, a supreme court supermajority ready to smack down challenges from Democrats and give the presidency to a Trump lackey ready to start dismantling the 2 term presidency rule. 

[iNow]

2 hours ago, MSC said:

Lets say Trump wins the election this year

One problem with this strain of thinking will persist even if Trump loses. There will be others continuing to push them and trying to exploit them for their own gains.

These ideas are gaining in acceptance among those who use labels to claim they wish to "conserve" the principles of the constitution.

This is about power in the purest Game of Thrones sense of the term. It is not about principles nor protections of citizens in the realm.

[TheVat]

There is also a McCarthyesque enemies list being compiled as we speak.

https://apnews.com/article/trump-biden-president-project-2025-33d3fc2999a74f4aa424f1128dca2d16#

WASHINGTON (AP) — From his home office in small-town Kentucky, a seasoned political operative is quietly investigating scores of federal employees suspected of being hostile to the policies of Republican Donald Trump, an effort that dovetails with broader conservative preparations for a new White House.

Tom Jones and his American Accountability Foundation are digging into the backgrounds, social media posts and commentary of key high-ranking government employees, starting with the Department of Homeland Security. They’re relying in part on tips from his network of conservative contacts, including workers. In a move that alarms some, they’re preparing to publish the findings online.

With a $100,000 grant from the influential Heritage Foundation, the goal is to post 100 names of government workers to a website this summer to show a potential new administration who might be standing in the way of a second-term Trump agenda — and ripe for scrutiny, reclassifications, reassignments or firings.

 

[iNow]

1 minute ago, TheVat said:

There is also a McCarthyesque enemies list being compiled as we speak.

It's almost as if those most loudly decrying cancel culture are themselves doing the majority of the cancelling, and in far more insidious ways. 

[dimreepr]

1 hour ago, iNow said:

It's almost as if those most loudly decrying cancel culture are themselves doing the majority of the cancelling, and in far more insidious ways. 

There's always a "catcher in the rye" that people don't want to understand.