The Legal Defense Fund (LDF), which calls itself America’s first civil rights law organization, is reminding federal employees of their legal rights as President Trump takes numerous actions designed to make good on his vow to “clean house” at federal agencies.
Janai Nelson, President and Director-Counsel of LDF, wrote on X on Friday: “Federal workers are under threat. As the largest employer of Black ppl across the US the fed govt is a critical sector. LDF created a new resource page for fed workers facing uncertainty in the Trump Administration: Five Rights All Federal Workers Have.”
The LDF prefaced the Five Rights list with this message: “The Trump Administration’s attack on the federal workforce threatens the livelihoods of hardworking public servants across the country. The federal workforce, which is nearly 20% Black, ensures that our government functions, no matter who occupies the Oval Office. These public servants also play a major role in ensuring equal access to opportunities and providing critical benefits and services to the public.
“Federal employment has long served as a gateway to the middle class for Black people. As Black people were systematically shut out of the private sector, public employment gave them the opportunity to advance in their careers and achieve financial security, a legacy that continues to this day.
“No matter what Trump’s orders proclaim, federal employment statutes have not changed. Federal workers are still protected by the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, and many other federal laws and rules.”
[NOTE: The idea of federal employment being a path for people to get jobs and earn salaries they might not command in the private sector — and thereby gain entry into the middle class — is at once part of the argument LDF makes for keeping government workers employed and the argument made against such employee retention by MAGA types like Elon Musk.]
Federal workers are under threat. As the largest employer of Black ppl across the US the fed govt is a critical sector. LDF created a new resource page for fed workers facing uncertainty in the Trump Administration: Five Rights All Federal Workers Have https://t.co/NiXMjkJ3ng
— Janai Nelson (@JNelsonLDF) February 1, 2025
According to A Partnership for Public Service, in 2023 about 19% of federal employees in the U.S. were Black — higher than the percentage of Black people in the overall U.S. labor force, which was 13% at the time.
Nelson was previously the lead attorney of NUL v. Trump (2020), which “sought to declare the Trump administration’s executive order banning diversity, equity and inclusion training in the workplace unconstitutional before it was later rescinded.”
NUL is the National Urban League. On Monday, NUL President and CEO Marc H. Morial criticized the Trump administration for “stamping out racial justice initiatives” and noted that “Trump’s proposed cabinet includes only one Black member, a former NFL player whose only qualification to head the Department of Housing and Urban Development is his history of opposing affordable housing, protection for poor tenants, and aid for the homeless.”
Grateful to Chairman Scott and the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs for voting on my nomination. It was a pleasure meeting with nearly all of the committee members and I look forward to continuing our important work together if confirmed on the floor of the… pic.twitter.com/vRVvxKwwnj
— Scott Turner (@sturnerofficial) January 23, 2025
After spending nine seasons in the NFL, Scott Turner was twice elected as a Texas State Representative. ProPublica speculates that Turner’s HUD agenda will align with directives found in Project 2025, “which calls for cutting funding for affordable housing, repealing regulations that fight housing discrimination, increasing work requirements and adding time limits for rental assistance and eliminating anti-homelessness policies, among other changes.”
Trump’s former HUD Secretary, Ben Carson, is the author of the The Project 2025 chapter on HUD, and a mentor to Turner.
The ‘Five Rights All Federal Employees Have’ are:
- Federal employees have the right to be free from discrimination.
- Federal employees have the right to free speech, but there are certain limits to what they can say or do.
- There are legal protections for federal employees who report discrimination or disclose wrongdoing.
- Many federal employees have other rights provided by civil service statutes and regulations.
- Federal Employees have the right to make informed decisions.