In Defense of the Civil Service
Our government is founded on principles and expertise, dedicated to the benefit of all people.
For over 130 years, the civil service has upheld political neutrality, unbiased reporting, technical expertise, and the oath to protect the Constitution. Civil servants play a central role in fulfilling this mission. Since 1890, government policy, regulatory operations, and administration have been governed by non-partisan work.
Yet, their contributions are often overlooked or, worse, maligned by those seeking to dismantle these institutions. Civil servants are hogtied and scapegoated for doing their jobs. Neither is backed by evidence nor facts. Civil Servants’ work is vilified by unfounded generalizations and subjected to petty complaints.
Federal employees must take the oath:
“I, ________, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God.”
Defending the Constitution and working for the “general welfare” are solemn responsibilities.
During my 30-year federal career, I rarely met anyone who did not take this oath seriously; moreover, the cynics, artists, goofballs, and misfits took their jobs more seriously than others might have believed.
The Pendleton Act of 1883 established the civil service system to eliminate cronyism and ensure that government employees were selected based on merit and education, rather than political favoritism.
Career civic servants are bound by the Constitution and dedicated to preventing “waste, fraud, and abuse.” This foundational reform remains vital today. Political appointees may oversee agencies, but they often lack the expertise or knowledge of applicable laws required to lead effectively.
Federal employees work at least forty hours per week and pay federal, state, and local income taxes (where required by states and localities), property taxes, sales taxes, mortgages, insurance, and other expenses, just like everyone else.
Desk jobs are few compared to those of firefighters, lawyers, medical staff, scientists, geologists, engineers, accountants, food inspectors, aircraft mechanics, electricians, and all other trades, crafts, and laborers; even then, such a list does not include military personnel.
Now, contrary to the Constitution and law, partisan loyalty oaths are seemingly to be required or coerced for employment, with pressure to follow only executive orders issued by a specific president. Moreover, administrative officials, researchers, economists, lawyers, and even military officers are pressured to exhibit “loyalty” to whimsical, vague, and arbitrary decisions.
Requiring loyalty oaths, pledges to submit to repressive approvals of illegal actions are indicative of operations by Russia, China, and North Korea.
It seems that so many actions of the Trump administration are blatantly and deliberately unconstitutional. Intellectual honesty, academic freedom, and institutional knowledge are being washed away. He seems to turn to hatred as a substitute. The default mode is to attack anyone because his new slogan is “Trump was right about everything.”
Authoritarianism is a sign of Trump’s weakness.
Democracy is the only form of strength by which people can understand and admire what any single individual cannot control. People understand that a diverse population and culture are signs of maturity and wisdom.
Together with an adequate, expert, and motivated civil service, we can restore the government to what it was only a few months ago and improve it. We can restore the Constitutional framework and neutral expert administration and improve upon this heritage.
We must not just tolerate each other, but become strong enough, in the face of threats from an apprentice dictator, to welcome back knowledge, freedom, and courage for everyone.
Only a strong people can resist attempts to weaken them and, instead, embrace democracy.
CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 by Dennis C as published Oct 2025 on Harvest Blue. This article is adapted from a letter to the editor submitted to the Cowley CourierTraveler (Arkansas City, Kansas). The author is a retired federal civil servant now living in Kansas. Opinions expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the website administrator or members of the Harvest Blue cooperative. Opinions are protected by the 1st Amendment. The photo is an image of the oath of office taken by federal employees, as published by afge.org.