Trump’s Odious New Demand of the Civil Service: Loyalty Oaths

As I say, that’s how it works under a normal president. Under the aberration that is Donald Trump, executive orders often have no role other than to express Trump’s crotchets, partisan or otherwise. When they call for action, they often violate existing law and/or the Constitution (to which federal hires must also pledge loyalty).

One executive order instructed the attorney general not to enforce, for 75 days, a congressionally enacted ban on TikTok. The delay was later renewed twice, and will likely be renewed again this month, even though the Supreme Court upheld the TikTok ban. Civil servants aren’t supposed to choose between upholding executive branch policies and upholding Supreme Court decisions. OPM wants to make this choice explicit.

Another executive order commanded government agencies not to issue documents recognizing the citizenship of children born in the United States to noncitizens, even though the Constitution states that such children are “natural born citizens.” Rather surprisingly, the Supreme Court agreed to hear arguments about this. If, as expected, it rules against Trump, civil servants will once again be compelled to choose between Trump and the Supreme Court, which amounts to choosing between Trump and the Constitution.