United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit

actions in fact corrected mistakes that would have left the public unprotected.
Empirically, he furthered the government’s stated mission of aviation security.
The underlying principle to assess “efficiency of the service” should not be
maintaining false appearances that government is operating effectively. Rather, the
Code of Ethics should be the guiding principle. The first canon in the Code of
Ethics for Government Service, PL 96-303, 94 Stat. 855 (July 3, 1980) and 5 CFR
Part 2635, required by law to be displayed in every government office, instructs:
“I. Put loyalty to the highest moral principles and to country above loyalty to
persons, party, or Government Department.”
The Board did not consider the Code’s relevance for personnel actions. This
Court should establish whether it is, and resolve a fundamental clash over the merit
system’s priorities. Members of Congress thanked MacLean, while TSA fired him
for the same action. This Court should establish whether it serves government
efficiency more to shield a false appearance that it is providing service, compared
to correcting a mistake so government actually carries out its stated mission. It
should choose whether risks from learning of a government breakdown outweigh
benefits from correcting it prior to adverse consequences. The Code is on the wall
of every government office. If its priorities have no greater significance than wall
paper, government employees should know not to take it seriously as legally
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