AFGE Local 252 Official Statement on Opposing Proposed Changes to Office of Personnel Management Rules that Weaken Protections for Federal Workers 

March 12, 2026

Media contact: Dorie Turner Nolt, dorie.turner@gmail.com, 404-861-1127

American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) Local 252, which represents 2,000 U.S. Department of Education current and former employees, released the following statement from AFGE Local 252 President Rachel Gittleman about proposed changes that further erode civil service and weaken protections for federal employees: 

“These proposals concentrate extraordinary power over federal employment decisions in a single agency, the Office of Personnel Management, and remove the external checks provided by independent bodies like the U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board and the federal courts. The system is set up to prevent political influence over employment decisions for federal civil servants, but these proposals dangerously remove that wall. AFGE Local 252 strongly opposes these proposed rules.”

Here are the two comments that AFGE Local 252 submitted to OPM about these proposals:

• The sustainability rule
• The reduction-in-force appeal rule (coming soon)

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