If they are appointed members of the executive branch - DoJ, FBI, and so on, then the president can invite them to leave at his discretion and no one else has a say in that, nor does he need to have ANY reason to justify doing so. Obama and most other presidents FTM, cleaned house of all political appointees during their transition. There's nothing new or sinister in doing this, it's common. Trump erred greatly by not following that example.
I disagree.
Civil service protection against arbitrary firing is essential to a democratic republic.
{...
The Firing Process
What happens if you get fired from the federal government? When an agency wants to fire or suspend competitive-service employees, they have to follow procedure. First, they give the employees advance written notice, stating the reasons. The employees then have a reasonable time to answer the notice; if they contest the reasons, they can furnish affidavits and other evidence to support their side of the matter.
If the agency proceeds with a firing, suspension or reduction in pay, the employees get 30 days of advance notice. Once again, the employees can respond. They can also appeal the firing to the MSPB. To win, the agency must prove the charged conduct occurred, prove it's relevant to civil-service efficiency and show the penalty is proportionate to the actions. Firing for excepted-service employees works much the same.
SES temporary appointees are at-will and may be fired at any time. An SES
career civil service employee must be removed if they receive too many unsatisfactory ratings on their performance reviews. SES employees can't appeal to MSPB, although they can request a hearing before the board.
Can the President Fire Civil Servants?
Much of the federal bureaucracy is based in the executive branch. As the president is the top dog, "Can the president fire civil servants?" seems like a logical question. For a long stretch of American history, the answer was yes.
The
University of Pittsburgh says that up until the late 19th century, the U.S. civil service was run on the "spoils system." When the White House changed hands, the new president awarded
jobs to their supporters and allies. George Washington argued it made sense to pick competent people you knew and trusted, and his successors initially followed that thinking:
Jobs might be rewards to your supporters, but only competent supporters.
Andrew Jackson, however, wanted to open the civil service to more people. His administration didn't worry as much about competence, and many civil service employees paid kickbacks to get their positions. Things got worse from there: James Buchanan replaced almost the entire civil service during his presidency, and Lincoln was almost as drastic.
By the 1880s, the United States was increasingly fed up with incompetence and corruption in the civil service. The federal government instituted competitive examination and rules against firing employees for political reasons. The 1939 Hatch Act sets limits on federal employee's political activities, according to the
FDA, to keep the civil service apolitical. Future administrations could change this; for example, former President Trump issued executive orders making it easier to fire many employees.
...}
www.cnn.com
www.theguardian.com
