[ceejayoz]

There are quite a few protections for the civil service rank and file.

https://www.vox.com/2018/8/27/17786324/trump-fires-governmen...

> The reason he can’t is simple: Unlike his employees at the Trump Organization, about a third of federal workers belong to unions. And those unions have negotiated certain job protections for workers, which includes a process that gives workers a chance to improve their job performance before they are terminated.

[vkou]

You don't fire the line workers, you fire the managers. Workers don't set policy. They do what they are told.

None of the directors, or the senior administrators setting policy are unionized.