Democratic senators are calling out the Trump administration for handing out massive taxpayer-funded salaries to political allies, while purging experienced civil servants from the government.
In a letter sent Wednesday, eight Senate Democrats demanded a full breakdown of who’s getting paid under a special hiring category used by President Trump to bring in political appointees without going through the usual process.
The group is focused on “Schedule C” hires—low-level policy roles filled by Trump’s hand-picked loyalists. These jobs can pay up to $195,200 per year, the top of the federal pay scale.
The senators want answers from Charles Ezell, the acting director of the Office of Personnel Management, who issued a memo on April 10 reminding agencies they have “great flexibility” in setting pay for these political hires.
By doing this, Ezell gave agency heads the green light to skip standard HR oversight and pay Trump’s allies top dollar with taxpayer money.
“Fire dedicated public servants in droves, cut essential government services, and use taxpayer dollars to instead hire underqualified and overpaid political cronies,” the senators wrote.
Led by Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), the group includes Sens. Tim Kaine (Va.), John Fetterman (Pa.), Chris Van Hollen (Md.), Mark Warner (Va.), Angela Alsobrooks (Md.), Alex Padilla (Calif.), and Richard Blumenthal (Conn.).
The senators are demanding salary records and job descriptions for all Schedule C employees hired under the Trump administration at or near the maximum allowed pay.
They say the timing of Ezell’s memo—while thousands of career civil servants are being forced out—raises serious questions about corruption, favoritism, and misuse of public funds.
So far, there has been no public response from Ezell or the Trump administration.
Here’s a copy of their letter, obtained by The Daily Boulder:
