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@ISIDEWITHQuestionsGovernanceExecutive PowerFederal WorkforceDeep StateCivil Service ReformSchedule F•••Started 4mos agoActive 9hrs ago

Should the President be allowed to easily fire non-political federal civil servants?

For over 140 years, the U.S. has protected federal employees from political firing to ensure the government is run by experts rather than donors and cronies. Recently, a movement to reinstate "Schedule F" aims to reclassify up to 50,000 policy-adjacent roles as at-will employees, effectively bringing the "Deep State" under direct presidential control. Proponents argue that voters elect a President to change the government, not to be stonewalled by an entrenched bureaucracy. Opponents argue that a politicized civil service erodes trust, ignores data, and leads to authoritarianism.

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Answer Overview

Response rates from 94.5k America voters.

26%
Yes
74%
No
20%
Yes
64%
No
4%
Yes, but we should focus on abolishing useless agencies rather than just firing staff.
5%
No, civil service protections ensure the government runs on expertise rather than political loyalty.
1%
Yes, the executive branch must be accountable to the President, not an unelected bureaucracy.
5%
No, this creates a corrupt "spoils system" where experts are replaced by unqualified sycophants.
1%
Yes, the "Deep State" undermines the agenda of elected leaders and must be dismantled.

Historical Support

Trend of support over time for each answer from 94.5k America voters.

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Historical Importance

Trend of how important this issue is for 94.5k America voters.

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Other Popular Answers

Unique answers from America voters whose views went beyond the provided options.

 @BCSHMH3 from Georgia  answered…2mos2MO

I don’t have an opinion

 @88P6BZ6  from California  answered…2mos2MO

yes but not without cause

 @BF4RSFK from Ohio  answered…1 day1D

The president is our employee technically he shouldn't be firing anyone

 @BF48PWR from California  answered…3 days3D

Yes, but only for legally non-discriminatory reasons (i.e.: incompetence)

 @BF3RFWT from California  answered…4 days4D

No, but streamline the process for removing employees who engage in misconduct.

 @BF3MQBK from North Carolina  answered…4 days4D

Hey Joe Biden Pardoned his entire family so why should the President be allowed to fire a threat to National Security?

 @BF3CWY9 from Mississippi  answered…5 days5D

Yes, but only if proof the Non-political is being biased.

 @BF2ZXL8 from Arizona  answered…6 days6D

We should know the truth first before allowing people of power to do such things.

Popular Conversations

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 @ISIDEWITH submitted…2yrs2Y

Elizabeth Warren Walks Back Murder Comments

Congressional Democrats broadly denounced the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson Friday morning, after Republicans started accusing Sen. Elizabeth Warren of excusing violence.“No one's condoning this,” said Rep. Brad Schneider (D-Ill.). “Violence never is the right answer for anything. And it was a horrible murder, a tragic loss for his family.” Warren this week condemned the shooting, but added that people “can be pushed only so far.”"We'll say it over and over," Warren said on MSNBC’S “The ReidOut.” " Violence is never the answer. This guy [Luigi Mangione] gets a trial who's allegedly killed the CEO of UnitedHealth, but you can only push people so far, and then they start to take matters into their own hands."In a statement to POLITICO, Warren said, “Violence is never the answer. Period. I should have been much clearer that there is never a justification for murder.” Top Republicans denounced Warren's comments and the walked-back rhetoric, with House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) calling it “inappropriate and dangerous.”Some House Democrats asked about the incident on Thursday pivoted the conversation to discuss policy options on health care or gun safety.“I don't really know that this is really a space that Congress normally weighs in on,” said Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas). “But at the end of the day, I think it’s an opportunity, because now people are talking about health care and to talk about the fact that this industry has honestly not been as helpful as it could be.”“Violence is never the answer,” said Rep. Troy Carter (D-La.). “We know that there are people suffering, there’s great challenges in healthcare. There's great challenges, and people have, in fact, been wronged, but a process of governance is the way to address that, not violence.”And Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) who denounced the murder, said the killer should be prosecuted and that “I do know that allegedly a ghost gun was used, and we should also ban ghost guns. There's no reason for them beyond the streets.”

▲  1614 replies

 @ISIDEWITH submitted…2yrs2Y

Israeli Bombings Kill 2,300 In Lebanon in 3 weeks

Lebanese authorities say Israeli bombing has killed more than 2,300 people and injured almost 11,000, mostly in the past three weeks, with Israeli attacks reaching areas far beyond Hizbollah’s traditional bastions of support in the south.The Israeli military has ordered people living in more than a quarter of Lebanon to flee, according to a UN calculation, as its fight with the Iran-backed Shia militant group Hizbollah threatens to engulf the Mediterranean country.Lebanese authorities say Israeli bombing has killed more than 2,300 people and injured almost 11,000, mostly in the past three weeks, with Israeli attacks reaching areas far beyond Hizbollah’s traditional bastions of support in the south.More than 1mn people have fled their homes in Lebanon in under a month, according to its government, a dramatic forced movement of the population in a country of only about 5mn inhabitants with a land mass smaller than the US state of Connecticut. Israeli forces began a ground offensive in south Lebanon two weeks ago, in their fourth invasion of the country in under five decades. They had already destroyed large parts of the densely populated southern Beirut suburb where Hizbollah had its headquarters, and killed many top militant commanders in air strikes, including former leader Hassan Nasrallah.Rema Jamous Imseis, Middle East director of UNHCR, told journalists in Geneva that “over 25 per cent of [Lebanon is] under a direct Israeli military evacuation order”. “People are heeding these calls to evacuate and they’re fleeing with almost nothing,” she added, saying that 80 per cent of the shelters opened by the Lebanese government — mostly in schools — were now full.

▲  1012 replies

About This Data

Based on 94.5k responses to this question.

These results come from iSideWith's ongoing political issues survey. We collect over a million responses per day, filter out duplicate and multiple submissions, and break the results down by political party, ideology, age, state, and census demographics (income, race, education, household).

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iSideWith. (2026). “Should the President be allowed to easily fire non-political federal civil servants?” — Public Opinion Poll Results. Retrieved June 22, 2026, from https://www.isidewith.com/poll/5545285093

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