GOP pollster says survey data shows Americans would not support Trump’s efforts to reinstitute Schedule F

As part of his new administration, President-elect Donald Trump has said he wants to revive Schedule F — an ultimately unsuccessful effort from the end of his first term that sought to remove civil service job protections for potentially tens of thousands of career federal employees. 

But based on survey data, one famous GOP pollster argued that the public would not support such a policy. 

Frank Luntz told attendees at a National Academy of Public Administration conference on Nov. 14 that 61% of respondents — including majorities of Democrats, Independents and Republicans — would prefer a “non-partisan, nonpoliticized civil service that is less accountable to the president — meaning it is less influenced by political agendas, but it also means that the workers are harder to replace.” 

In comparison, 39% would prefer a “politicized civil service that is more accountable to the president — meaning that it is more influenced by political agendas, and it is easier to replace.” 

“We gave them the argument why it's good on both sides. 61-39 they're on your side,” he said. “Our civil servants should be hired because of performance, not politics. That is your sentence. If you don't use it, it's your own fault.”

Luntz shared that data as part of a presentation for public administration experts on how they can better communicate about good government.

He argued that part of the problem is the terms that federal agencies use to describe the value of their work. 

“If you insist on using the words you've been using, the public will say you're wrong,” he said. “This is the clearest example of language and messaging I've ever seen, and I want you to succeed.”  

For instance, Luntz encouraged attendees to use the word “performance” instead of “merit” when talking about the civil service (e.g. performance-based civil service instead of a merit-based one). 

“The truth is we're not about merit anymore,” he said. “Because merit is about effort. Performance is about result.” 

He also discouraged government experts from using the word “equity,” a buzzword during the Biden administration. 

“You have to sound nonpartisan. You have to sound nonideological. And inclusive and equitable is thought to be a Democratic phrase by 85% of the country,” he said. “I'm not going to have a fight with 85%, and you don't want that fight either.”

Republicans have criticized diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives and introduced legislation to largely ban them from the federal government. 

As an alternative, Luntz suggested using the phrase “every individual in every community in every corner of the country.” 

He also highlighted polling data from the Partnership for Public Service that showed 48% of Americans say their experiences with the federal government have been mostly positive compared to 44% who say the opposite.  

But it’s a vastly different story when Americans are asked about other people’s experiences with the federal government. 

“Most Americans' experience with the federal government has been mostly positive — by more than two to one, they say, ‘no, it hasn't [been mostly positive],’” Luntz said. “We are hearing the stories of others and thinking that it's accurate rather than personalizing it to ourselves. That's a messaging problem. This is no one's fault, except I'm sorry, but the government itself.”  

He also warned that “corruption” is a particularly harmful word for federal agencies. 

“Corruption is the thing that the American people hate the most, even more than inefficiency [and] even more than ineffectiveness,” he said. “If you get labeled with corruption, you have to respond, because it will destroy your credibility.”

Unfortunately for agencies, PPS in July conducted focus groups with young adult Americans and “corrupt” was the most common word that came to their minds when asked to think of the federal government. 

Likewise, Luntz was blunt in assessing the effectiveness of his recommendations. 

“The language here is not going to turn things around,” he said. “It's simply going to stop things from getting worse.”