I thought it was the method for removing entrenched, useless gov't employees?
Gov't employees enjoy very robust union backing. It's sometimes hard to get rid of shitty ones, especially if they have "dirt" on their boss.
A good solution is to hire a temp boss, who will very quickly develop a new papertrail on the problem employee, and within 4-6 months have them terminated for cause. Then you fire the temp employee, so that if the fired worker sues, the person who actually fired them isn't there to respond to the lawsuit.
It's like using a shell corporation and is a way for higher ups to keep their hands clean.