Public Servant ?

(...) I think hiring is done from lists that result from scores on tests that are not known for selecting the best and the brightest.

Once hired, they are usually retained, even for those found to perform poorly.

The answer to the question of ‘is it hard to fire federal employees’ is probably yes. It is harder to fire federal employees in comparison to the relative ease of firing employees subject to termination at will. The unanswered question is whether it should be harder to fire federal employees to preserve a merit based civil service.

Should the due process system available to federal employees be replaced by summary removals with no appeal rights? To protect the merit system in the federal service, the answer is probably no.

Is there value to the American people to have a career federal civilian service which is not subject to the total control of a particular political party? The answer to this by most Americans is probably yes. The cost of a non-political civil service is a due process systems to protect federal civil servants.

There are various options presently being tried by the current [Trump] Administration to streamline the process and make the current system less burdensome for supervisors. These include reducing time frames for actions and eliminating the need for PIPs. [Performance Improvement Plan] It remains to be seen if these will result in increased use of removal actions.

The most important consideration is making a process that supervisors will use and employees believe is fair. Few supervisors relish the act of firing an employee as many consider themselves too busy to go through the process. The real question may not be “is it too hard to fire federal employees” but instead “do supervisors really think more employees should be fired?” If so, why aren’t they doing it? You can make an improved process, but if few are willing to use it, it may not bring about any real change.

So, you feel the same way about members of the armed forces? You know who I'm talking about, the men and women who serve our country regardless of the risks.

"Members of Congress are eligible for a pension at the age of 62 if they have completed at least five years of service. Members are eligible for a pension at age 50 if they have completed 20 years of service, or at any age after completing 25 years of service. The amount of the pension depends on years of service and the average of the highest three years of salary. By law, the starting amount of a member's retirement annuity may not exceed 80 percent of his or her final salary."