Federal Judge Blocks Trump's Civil Service 'Loyalty Question'

A U.S. federal judge has blocked the Trump administration from requiring federal job applicants to answer a 'loyalty question' deemed partisan. Unions argued this question unlawfully politicized civil service hiring by assessing support for Trump, violating the Civil Service Reform Act's ban on political affiliation considerations.

A federal judge issued a ruling on Friday halting a Trump administration mandate requiring applicants for federal civil service positions to respond to what has been described as a 'loyalty question.' The decision came after several unions representing government workers challenged the practice in court.

U.S. District Judge George O'Toole of Boston sided with unions, including the American Federation of Government Employees, asserting that the question implicitly sought to gauge political allegiance to the Republican president's policies, thereby infringing on the established principles of nonpartisan federal employment. The unions maintained that this requirement violated the Civil Service Reform Act, which prohibits hiring decisions based on political views.

Lawyers from Democracy Forward, representing the unions, celebrated the ruling, noting that over 70,000 federal job applications contained the contentious question. Despite the Office of Personnel Management's defense of the question as non-binding, the court concluded it likely breached the Administrative Procedure Act by infringing on First Amendment rights. The judge's decision underscores the importance of maintaining a merit-based, apolitical civil service.