White House Secretly Swayed Board Meant to Stop Civil Service Politicization
Behind the scenes, the Trump White House went to extensive lengths to advance its theory of executive power, potentially giving the president remarkable leeway to install loyalists at nearly every echelon of government.
nytimes.com/…irings-workers-merit-systems-protect…
By Jonah E. BromwichMichael S. Schmidt and Rebecca Davis O’Brien
June 28, 2026 In the tiny corner of the legal world that follows such things, the March ruling crashed down like a thunderbolt.
It was issued by an obscure government agency called the Merit Systems Protection Board, whose purpose is to protect federal workers from unfair firings. But the decision backed President Trump’s assertion that he has broad authority to reshape the executive branch as he wants.
The ruling broke with decades of precedent, accepting the White House’s argument that Article II of the Constitution gives Mr. Trump the power to dismiss officials without due …More