US judge blocks Trump administration's 'loyalty' question for job applicants

A federal judge in Boston has blocked the Trump administration from continuing to ask applicants for civil service jobs a "loyalty question," which unions described as a partisan query that unlawfully politicized the hiring process. U.S. District Judge George O'Toole ruled on Friday that the question, which required applicants to write essays on how they would advance President Donald Trump's policies and executive orders, likely violated the First Amendment's speech rights.

The unions, including the American Federation of Government Employees, argued that the question mandated by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) was an attempt to assess applicants' support for the Republican president, despite the Civil Service Reform Act barring employment decisions based on political affiliation. Judge O'Toole, an appointee of President Bill Clinton, stated that the unions were likely to succeed in showing no legitimate governmental interest in inquiring into the political beliefs of applicants for federal civil service vacancies.

Lawyers for the unions noted that over 70,000 federal job postings had included the question, undermining a merit-based hiring system. AFGE National President Everett Kelley said in a statement that requiring applicants to answer politically motivated questions goes against the nonpartisan nature of the civil service. The OPM had previously defended the question as optional and stated that hiring decisions could not be based on political beliefs. The question was adopted in response to an executive order signed by Trump in January 2025, which required the OPM to develop a hiring plan to bring "only highly skilled Americans dedicated to the furtherance of American ideals, values, and interests" into the federal workforce.