Former OPM Leaders Warn That Eliminating Civil Service Protections Would Weaken Government's Ability to Serve the American People

August 3, 2026 - Washington, D.C. — Last week, Democracy Forward filed a friend-of-the-court brief on behalf of a former Director and Acting Director of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM), urging the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit to reverse a Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) decision that threatens longstanding statutory protections for career federal employees. The former OPM leaders argue that the Trump-Vance administration’s sweeping view of presidential removal authority would undermine the merit-based civil service that presidents of both parties rely on to faithfully execute the laws.

The brief is submitted on behalf of former OPM Director Janice R. Lachance and former Acting Director Rob Shriver, who argue that longstanding civil service protections are essential to an effective, merit-based federal workforce.

Drawing on their experience leading the federal government’s chief human resources agency, the former officials explain that civil service protections are not obstacles to effective government – they are essential to it. The brief argues that statutory protections help agencies recruit and retain highly qualified public servants, encourage career employees to provide candid professional advice without fear of political retaliation, and preserve the institutional expertise and continuity necessary for every presidential administration to govern effectively.

The brief also describes that adopting the administration’s constitutional theory would allow presidents to bypass statutory protections enacted by Congress and fundamentally reshape the federal workforce in ways that would make government less capable of serving the American people. Weakening merit system protections would make it more difficult to recruit talented employees, discourage career experts from speaking candidly, and jeopardize the continuity of government across presidential transitions.

“A professional, nonpartisan civil service is one of the foundations of effective government and our constitutional system, and the vast majority of people in this country believe that civil servants should be hired and promoted based on merit, not partisan loyalty,” said Skye Perryman, President and CEO of Democracy Forward. “Our government has depended on career public servants who provide their expertise, carry out the law with integrity, and continue serving regardless of who occupies the White House. This brief makes clear that dismantling those protections would not strengthen the presidency – it would weaken the government’s ability to deliver for the people.”

“Having led the Office of Personnel Management, I know firsthand that civil service protections are not about insulating poor performance or limiting accountability,” said Rob Shriver, former Acting Director of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management and Managing Director of the Civil Service Strong and Good Government Initiatives at Democracy Forward. “They are what make it possible to recruit talented public servants, retain critical expertise, and ensure that career employees can provide honest, professional advice to leaders of any administration. Weakening those protections would make government less effective and leave every future president with a less capable federal workforce.”

“I’ve seen firsthand how much every function of government depends on federal employees who show up, do the work, and often go unnoticed until something goes wrong,” said Janice R. Lachance, former Director of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management. “Think about the experts at federal agencies like NOAA and the U.S. Forest Service who spend years learning to track wildfire behavior in real time so communities know when to evacuate, or monitor the smoke plumes as they drift across the country. None of that happens without a workforce that trusts it can do its job without fear of arbitrary retaliation.”

The case challenges expansive claims of presidential authority to bypass statutory protections for career civil servants. The former OPM officials urge the Federal Circuit to reverse the MSPB decision and reaffirm that Congress’s civil service protections strengthen, not undermine, the executive branch’s ability to execute the laws.

The case is Megan Jackler and Brandon Jaroch v. Merit Systems Protection Board, and the team at Democracy Forward on this brief includes Michael Martinez, Webb Lyons, Joshua Salzman, and Elena Goldstein.

Civil Service Strong, a project of Democracy Forward, is a collaborative effort of people, organizations, and communities across the country who are joining together in support of our civil servants. 

Read the brief here. 

Source: Democracy Forward