Federal Court Halts Trump Administration's Civil Service Loyalty Test

The ruling by Judge George A. O’Toole Jr. in Massachusetts targets a practice initiated under the "Reforming the Federal Hiring Process and Restoring Merit to Government Service" executive order. The mandate forced applicants to detail how they would advance specific presidential policy priorities, a requirement that appeared in over 70,000 job postings. Plaintiffs, including AFSCME, AFGE, and NAGE, contended that this requirement compelled political speech and effectively chilled the rights of prospective workers.

Judge O’Toole found that the OPM’s actions likely violated both the Administrative Procedure Act and the First Amendment. He noted that the question explicitly linked an applicant’s personal political views to their professional duties, a practice that shifts hiring away from merit-based selection. While the court stopped the administration from continuing the practice, it denied a request to block the government from using data already collected from applicants who previously answered the question. Democracy Forward, the legal group representing the unions, hailed the decision as a critical defense of a professional federal workforce against partisan encroachment.