“When told to break the law, must feds just follow orders?” co-authored by University Professor Emeritus Sean O'Keefe, who served in both Bush administrations at the Pentagon, White House and NASA; and Josh Gotbaum, who served in the Clinton Administration as an appointee at the Treasury Department and the Office of Management and Budget; was published by Brookings. Following is an excerpt:

When a federal prosecutor is told to prosecute someone who has not committed a crime and for which there is no evidence, or is told to lie to the courts, must they do so? When employees at the IRS or Social Security are directed to release legally protected information, must they follow orders?

The law is clear: No.

The Follow the Rules Act—passed unanimously by Congress and signed into law by President Trump in 2017—unequivocally says that public servants cannot be compelled to obey illegal orders. Under the act, federal employees cannot be fired, demoted, or sanctioned in any way for refusing to follow an order that would violate the law—whether it’s the Constitution, statutes, agency rules, appropriations, or federal regulations. If directed to do something that violates a law, rule, or regulation, federal personnel are legally allowed to—and arguably must—refuse to obey.

When joining federal service, every public employee signs and recites an oath to “faithfully discharge the duties of the office…So help me God.” That oath requires that they comply with our nation’s laws. This is the sacred duty of all government employees. It doesn’t change from administration to administration.

This is not about policy disagreements: The law doesn’t permit a public servant, military or civilian, to disobey an order solely because they disagree with a policy. Nor does the law rely solely on the employee’s view that an order is unlawful. That decision is ultimately made by entities such as the Merit Systems Protection Board or a military court under the Uniform Code of Military Justice.