“The group Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility filed a complaint today over what they charge is the administration’s intent to fire federal career staff who are disloyal to President Trump.
The complaint, filed with the Office of Special Counsel, claims top White House press aide Hogan Gidley’s recent comments in a Fox News interview could violate the Hatch Act or ‘merit system principles’ that have long governed public personnel practices.
On Feb. 24, Gidley said on TV: ‘It’s not a secret that we want people in positions that work with this president, not against him, and too often we have people in this government — I mean the federal government is massive, with millions of people — and there are a lot people out there taking action against this president, and when we find them we will take appropriate action.’
PEER argued that when he said ‘appropriate action,’ Gidley actually meant ‘removal, demotion, transfer, suspension, or other personnel actions.’ The White House did not return comment by deadline.”
