As president-elect Donald Trump transitions to the White House, one New Jersey lawmaker is calling on Trump to preserve employment protections for federal workers that outgoing President Barack Obama put in place by executive order.
The order is among the policy reversals that Trump could effect on his first day in office, and Assemblyman Reed Gusciora is calling on the president-elect not to veer to the right.
The 2014 executive order bars discrimination based on sexual identity in the hiring and firing of federal workers, or workers working for a contractor employed by the federal government. While Trump vacillated on the question of gay rights during his campaign, Gusciora is hoping his state-level resolution urging him not to reverse the policy will be “the first step in demonstrating that New Jersey will not allow these populations to be marginalized.”
“Our message to Donald Trump is simple: your policies of hate and exclusion won’t fly here, and we will vigorously and vocally oppose you whenever we need to,” Gusciora wrote in a statement.
“The national political trend is troublingly headed towards isolationism, nativism, and exclusionary politics that don’t, in any capacity, reflect American values. We are a nation of diverse backgrounds, beliefs, and personalities, founded on principles of free expression. While I would love to live in a world without discrimination, as I’m sure most of us would, this year has demonstrated that we clearly do not.
“As such, these vital legal protections for minority groups are necessary, and they will not be repealed without vocal opposition,” he continued. “If he were to repeal E.O. 13672, he would effectively be repealing the achievements of presidents reaching back well into the 20th century.”
Disclosure: Donald Trump is the father-in-law of Jared Kushner, the publisher of Observer Media.
