THe concern here is less about "at will" employees, but FTE. That's been stated over and over again.
Regarding the independent federal agencies - these agencies were all created by acts of congress and signed by the President. Each was created specifically to be independent, in no small part because COngress did want the executive branch to completely control (for example) the EPA.
While the president appoints the head of these organizations, each is governed by a board - appointments are intentionally staggered so that no one president can appoint all of the members of the board. Protection from termination has been granted to federal workers precisely to prevent the kind of political meddling this would allow.
It concerns the hell out of me that these bills could further shift power to the executive branch, and curtail the independent nature of many of many federal organizations and much of our federal workforce. Again, you are incorrect that this has always been the power of the president - and in no way is this just "formalizing" or "clarifying" the law.
Finally, telling me that my opinion doesn't matter is a pretty low blow. I accept other people's opinions even when I don't agree with them.
I'm now waiting for the Trumpsterfire supporters to justify it when he starts firing all the people in the CIA who've been looking into his ties with Russia. Or, say, starts firing the federal employee friends and relations to the people who work at Buzzfeed and released that
hilarious story*. Or some other truly egregious abuse of power. Because the people who've been arguing
so strenuously on here that this is fine, it's totally in line with previous presidents, etc., aren't going to let themselves lose face by admitting, wow, we royally screwed the pooch with this one!
Quidnon? - clearly being a brain surgeon does not always equal intelligence. The man doesn't believe in evolution and he thinks that rape can make a man homosexual. And homosexuality, as we all know, also makes you a pedophile by default. Being skilled enough with your hands to do surgery does not automatically make you sane, rational, or a good choice for political appointee. I wouldn't have dreamed of voting for Jill Stein either, in part because she's so anti-vaccination as to be clearly a little stupid in some ways. They both show that it's really not always our best and brightest who apply to, and get accepted to, medical school.
You clearly think that not having experience in the areas these appointees are being put in charge of, but I'm betting that if you needed a brain surgeon you'd look around for someone with experience. You want teachers with teaching experience in charge of your kid's class room. Hell, you wouldn't hire a plumber who didn't know what end of a wrench to use.
People get better at their jobs with more experience. Not having political experience does not magically make someone somehow better suited to being in politics. Stop trying to spread the, frankly, quite stupid idea that because people are "outsiders" (which, they clearly aren't if they're even being considered for these positions) they're somehow going to use rainbow unicorn powers to understand everything about their new jobs and
not royally fuck things up for other people.
This might seem like a fun thing for you to watch, but there really are people's lives at stake. It turns out that when you mess with people's healthcare, some of them will die. When you mess with housing and benefits for low-income people it turns out you'll end up throwing people onto the street, cause malnutrition (particularly among children--you know, the people you need to grow up healthy and smart so that they can grow the economy when they're older so that the stock market keeps growing to fund your FIRE), and generally destabilize more of the country. But sure, grab that popcorn you keep talking about and laugh at all those people. You're clearly just such a nice guy.
*Please note: I said story. I'm not trying to claim it's true or not true, just that it is a thing which happened. And it's damn funny, mostly because it enraged a certain tiny-handed wannabe king.