Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Federal Personnel And Process topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Federal shifts may reshape agency work, lobbyist David Turch tells Montclair council workshop
Summary
At a Montclair council workshop, federal legislative advocates warned the incoming administration’s emphasis on loyalty and personnel changes could alter how agencies interact with local governments and affect the pace and certainty of federal grants and programs.
David Turch, a federal legislative advocate with David Turch & Associates, told the Montclair City Council at a workshop that the incoming administration’s personnel strategy and approach to governance are likely to change how federal agencies operate and how quickly they can act on local priorities.
Turch said the new presidency appears to be ‘‘transactional’’ and that the president ‘‘does exactly what he says he’s going to do,’’ adding that appointments and staffing decisions may be driven more by loyalty than by traditional professional constraints. He warned that converting career civil servants into at‑will political appointees could make agencies more responsive to direction from the top but could also remove long‑standing institutional knowledge that local governments rely on when seeking grants or technical assistance.
The presentation covered several practical effects for local governments: faster, more centralized direction from agency leadership; the possibility of agency relocations that leave experienced staff behind; and increased legal and procedural uncertainty as staffing and personnel policies are litigated or debated in Congress. Turch cited the executive actions and proposals around ‘‘Schedule F’’ and said Congress has taken steps to make unilateral personnel changes more complicated, but the matter remains unresolved.
On oversight, Turch predicted that cabinet nominations would move relatively quickly through the Senate but still be subject to committee review, and he cautioned that unilateral uses of recess appointments would likely prompt institutional pushback from congressional committees responsible for advice and consent.
Why it matters: Montclair officials were urged to anticipate slower or less predictable responses from federal partners or to expect that the people they normally deal with at federal agencies might change. Turch recommended sustained coordination with the city’s congressional delegation and the city’s staff to ensure Montclair’s projects remain ready for funding requests.
The workshop concluded with attendees asking about the status of protections for civil servants and how personnel changes might affect program delivery; Turch said the issue is complex, may be tied up in litigation, and will require ongoing attention from local governments.
