Walker's Threat to Fire Doyle-Era Civil Servants is Breathtakingly Stupid (and Illegal)

Governor-elect Scott Walker, in a move reminiscent of the old spoils system, fired-off a letter yesterday to Governor Doyle that said:

In the past, it has been common practice for political appointees to use this time to 'bump down' into permanent civil service positions.  I believe these appointees should be required to go through the same application process as any other civil servants and my Administration will review any new permanent hires during the next two months so they can be considered for termination during the probationary period.

Walker is bluntly saying that he will fire civil servants because they were hired by the opposition party.  You can't do that.  Or at least you can't say you are going to do it:  This runs afoul of over 100 years of civil service reform laws that protect civil servants from being fired because they are in the "wrong party."