NATIONAL
Federal unions sue over ‘loyalty tests’
New Labor-led lawsuit seeks to protect the nonpartisan civil service from the latest Trump-Vance administration attacks
The following is from AFSCME:
BOSTON, MA (November 7, 2025) — Despite the lapse in government funding, and the furloughing of hundreds of thousands of federal workers, the government continues to post new job opportunities, with a new and unlawful essay seeking loyalty to President Trump. The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), and National Association of Government Employees, Inc. (NAGE) filed a lawsuit today challenging the inclusion of a “loyalty question” seeking fealty to the Trump-Vance administration on federal civil service job applications, noting that more than 1,700 job posts have included the essay question since October 1. The unions are represented by Democracy Forward, Protect Democracy, and Keker, Van Nest and Peters LLP.
For more than a century, the civil service in the United States has been nonpartisan and not focused on political loyalty. Yet, the Trump-Vance administration is now directing the inclusion of an open-ended essay question that asks potential civil servants about their political agreement with the Trump-Vance administration’s political agenda. This unprecedented “loyalty question” asks applicants to identify one or two of President Trump’s Executive Orders or policy initiatives that “are significant to you” and explain how the applicant would help advance them if hired. The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, explains that this question is unprecedented and unlawful.
AFSCME members at a stop on the AFL-CIO’s summer bus tour highlighting the ways Trump’s Project 2025 is harming working people. Photo: AFSCME
Plaintiffs allege that OPM has violated the First Amendment rights of applicants by conditioning employment on particular political viewpoints, compelling applicants to praise President Trump’s orders and policies, chilling the protected speech of other applicants who fear retaliation, and enabling and facilitating viewpoint discrimination.
The inclusion of this question is also arbitrary and capricious, in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act, and violates the Privacy Act because it collects unnecessary and irrelevant information about the exercise of applicants’ First Amendment rights.
“Federal workers chose jobs in public service because they want to help others — not to serve political or corporate interests,” said AFSCME President Lee Saunders. “But this billionaire-run administration wants to push them out and replace experienced public service workers with cronies who will blindly follow orders, regardless of what’s best for our communities. These ‘loyalty tests’ put partisan politics over expertise, leading to a talent drain within vital agencies that will put public health and safety at deep risk. We’re filing this lawsuit to defend the integrity of a nonpartisan, qualified civil service, and to ensure federal agencies serve the people, not self-interested partisan politicians.”
“Forcing job applicants to answer politically motivated questions comes straight from the Project 2025 playbook, which aims to replace dedicated, nonpartisan public servants with workers chosen for their political loyalty rather than their qualifications or their oath to uphold the Constitution,” said AFGE National President Everett Kelley. “This isn’t just illegal, it also harms our members and all Americans by depriving them of opportunities to serve their country and by undermining a skilled, nonpartisan workforce. We are proud to file this lawsuit to defend our members and the merit-based civil service, the cornerstone of our democracy.”
“For over a century, the merit-based civil service has been a cornerstone of our democracy, safeguarding it from corruption and political interference,” said David J. Holway, National President of the National Association of Government Employees (NAGE). “The administration’s loyalty essay requirement is a direct assault on that legacy and on every public servant’s oath to uphold the Constitution. NAGE stands firm in defense of a professional, nonpartisan workforce, because the strength of our democracy depends on competence, integrity, and service to the American people, not political allegiance.”
By compelling federal workers to indicate how they are personally loyal to the President, the administration has reaffirmed its plan, set forth in Project 2025, to replace federal workers hired on the basis of merit with political loyalists. Allowing this plan to continue will undermine the competence and effectiveness of the civil service. The suit asks the court to prohibit OPM from enforcing or implementing the loyalty question and to protect the civil service and the American people from this partisan attack.
The case is American Federation of Government Employees et al. v. Office of Personnel Management et al. Read the complaint here.
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