Accountability, Not Entitlement: A Veteran’s Perspective on the Federal Workforce

This week’s emotional reaction to the firings at the Department of State didn’t surprise me. But it did frustrate me.

Before Trump, before The Fork, and long before the word “accountability” was uttered in a D.C. briefing room without irony, there was a well-worn truth known to many Americans: working for the federal government often meant cashing a check for doing the bare minimum.

I saw it firsthand…repeatedly.

While I was in uniform, I worked alongside civilian federal employees who proudly boasted that after their probationary year, they were virtually untouchable. Some made a game of seeing just how little they could get away with. I remember a commander’s secretary who smugly told me, “I only come in around 9-ish. I can’t be here right at 9. I need a flexible schedule.” Another employee, caught again plugging a personal device into a government computer, shrugged and said, “I know I f’ed up. I don’t give an f. Slap me with a warning—I don’t care.”

That kind of attitude wasn’t the exception…it was normalized. And worse, it was protected.

In fact, when the day came for me to retire from military service civilian employees who worked with me thought I was literally crazy because I didn’t want to “slide” right into a GS-13 role on base. They would say things like, “Why go private sector when you can do half the work you had to while in service and earn a second retirement!”

Later, as a contractor, I worked with federal employees in other agencies…many with advanced degrees….who struggled to open a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet, let alone use basic formulas. Yet they made six figures and had lifetime job security.

Eventually I became a federal employee myself, right before Trump’s first term. I was still on probation when the “The Fork” memo came out. I took it without hesitation. Why? Because I had eyes, and a dream to be something more than just another faceless, nameless federal employee.

I still remember one colleague saying to me, without a hint of shame:

“I know people say we’re lazy and difficult…but so what? We’ve earned the right to be like that.”

That’s not public service. That’s entitlement.
And yet, that’s exactly the culture many inside the beltway are now scrambling to defend.

Let me be clear: not all federal employees are lazy. I’ve met some who were exceptional…dedicated, talented, and mission-focused. But we do ourselves no favors by pretending they are the majority. They are not.

The harsh truth most people don’t want to say out loud is this:
When you build a system where effort and excellence aren’t required, most people will do the bare minimum.
The federal government, as it stands, enables this exact behavior.

So what do we do?

Here are a few concrete steps we could take to rebuild resilience and accountability in our public workforce:

1. Reform Tenure Protections
   End the illusion of unfireable employees. Streamline the process to remove underperformers quickly and fairly. Set performance reviews that actually mean something.

2. Merit-Based Promotions, Not Time-in-Grade
   Promotions should be earned, not automatic. Reward those who go above and beyond, and stop promoting people just because they’ve been around long enough.

3. Civic Fitness Standards
   Just like we expect physical fitness in the military, we should expect civic fitness in the civilian workforce: mastery of basic tools, critical thinking, and a clear understanding of their role in serving the American public.

4. Leadership with Teeth
   Empower managers and agency heads to lead with integrity and make hard decisions without getting tied up in red tape. Replace CYA culture with servant leadership.

5. Cultural Reset
   Let’s reframe what government service should mean. It’s not a holding pattern for the risk-averse. It’s a calling…a temporary stewardship of taxpayer trust.

At the end of the day, the government works for us. It’s not a sanctuary for the unmotivated, and it should never be insulated from the consequences of failure.

The firings at the Department of State should be seen not as a threat…but as a course correction.

Because our country doesn’t need more entitled employees in permanent cubicle exile.

We need public servants.

Real ones.