In a prior post, I argued that President Trump’s Merit Hiring Plan may violate the First Amendment. This week, several unions — the American Federation of Government Employees, the American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees, and the National Association of Government Employees — raised the same concern. As Law360 reports, on November 18, the coalition of unions sought a preliminary injunction in the District of Massachusetts to block federal agencies from asking the “Loyalty Question,” or Question #3, in federal civil service hiring. The question asks: “How would you help advance the President’s Executive Orders and policy priorities in this role? Identify one or two relevant Executive Orders or policy initiatives that are significant to you, and explain how you would implement them if hired.”

The unions argue that the question violates the First Amendment because it conditions federal employment on political allegiance, promotes viewpoint discrimination, compels speech, chills speech, and fails strict scrutiny. My post supplements these arguments by suggesting that all four of the Plan’s questions, when read together, could “coerce” applicants to make “associational choices” to get their desired job, which the Supreme Court’s First Amendment precedent expressly forbids.