Holiday Message from Civil Service Strong on Our 1-Year Anniversary

Civil Service Strong was launched on December 19, 2024, by Democracy Forward to bring together a coalition of organizations dedicated to a non-partisan civil service. At our launch, we described Civil Service Strong as “an effort by civil society, non-partisan good government and watchdog organizations, lawyers, unions who are joining together to ensure our nation’s civil service is able to continue to serve the American people and our Constitution, deliver for our nation, and support our communities.”

As we close the most difficult year in modern history for civil servants, we at Civil Service Strong want to say to our extended community, “thank you for a job well done.” Together, we have effectively pushed back against the most aggressive effort to destroy the non-partisan civil service in history. From stopping illegal reductions-in-force to getting probationary employees reinstated to applying pressure to force agencies to rehire workers performing critical functions to changing the public perception about the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to the point where even Elon Musk is now questioning its effectiveness–our efforts have yielded results. 

Many civil servants, however, have been tormented and traumatized, as the Trump-Vance administration delivered on its Project 2025 promises. Our community has been there for them, too, providing resources like the Rise Up Federal Workers Legal Defense Network to help them navigate legal options, offering career coaching and employment assistance, mental health supports, and food and cash assistance. Our community includes organizations that have been fighting for and supporting federal workers for decades, and brand new organizations led by former feds to help current feds. 

The work has been constant, complex, heart-breaking, and exhausting. But it has also been the most important and rewarding work that many of us have ever done, 

We do not expect a reprieve next year, and we are redoubling our efforts to defend our democracy by fighting for a non-partisan civil service, support the federal workers who try every day to make things better for people in America, and build toward a future we can all be proud of.

To all of our civil servants this holiday season, we honor your integrity, commitment, and expertise. You, the non-partisan career civil servants, have been the backbone of our democracy for over 140 years. You have made our civil service the envy of other democracies around the world. You make sure that the critical work of government continues through wars, natural disasters, pandemics, and across administrations with widely different views and priorities. And you do so because you are driven to serve people in America, without regard to fame, fortune, or recognition. 

The Civil Service Strong community thanks you for your service to this country. We want you to know that you are not alone, and we will continue to fight for you because you are worth fighting for.

As we approach the end of this year, may your reflections bring you pride in the dignity and success of our fight. 

Happy holidays!