Monitoring democratic institutions through public records
Government Worker Protections — Week of Jul 13, 2026
Are career government workers protected from being fired for political reasons? 'Schedule F' is a rule that could let the President fire thousands of workers who aren't loyal to him.
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A member of Congress used a floor speech this week to describe significant damage to the federal workforce from the now-concluded DOGE initiative. In FAREWELL TO DOGE, Rep. Stansbury of New Mexico said that agencies lost "tens of thousands of employees through layoffs, deferred resignations, early retirements and hiring freezes," including thousands of veterans. She named specific agencies — the Forest Service, Bureau of Indian Affairs, and nuclear security agencies — as having lost the ability to perform basic functions.
This might matter because the federal civil service is designed to keep government running effectively regardless of which party holds power. If experienced career workers were removed at scale and agencies can no longer do their jobs, that could affect the basic protections that keep government services — from Social Security processing to forest management — functioning for ordinary Americans. Separately, a new bill called the Protecting America's Diplomatic Workforce Act would change how layoff procedures work for diplomats, though it's unclear from available information whether it would make protections stronger or weaker.
There are important alternative explanations to consider. Most likely, this floor speech is a political statement by an opposition lawmaker, and its claims about institutional damage may be exaggerated for rhetorical effect. Congressional speeches of this kind are not fact-checked testimony, and the specific numbers and characterizations have not been independently verified. Additionally, some workforce reduction after a change in administration is normal, and distinguishing legitimate streamlining from harmful cuts requires more detailed data than is available here. Finally, the speech itself declares DOGE effectively over, which could mean the period of greatest risk to career workers has passed.
Limitations: This analysis is based primarily on one congressional speech making unverified claims. It represents one lawmaker's perspective, not confirmed findings. The small number of documents this week (15) limits broader conclusions.