OPM Advances Plan to Remove Civil Service Protections for Policy Roles

The Trump administration is moving forward with plans to reclassify around 50,000 federal employees into roles with fewer civil service protections, making them easier to fire or replace.

The U.S. Office of Personnel Management published a proposed rule on April 23 that would introduce a worker classification known as “Schedule Policy/Career” — a successor to the “Schedule F” order that President Donald Trump issued toward the end of his first term but ran out of time to implement. The public is invited to comment on the proposed rule by May 23.

Employees who may be reclassified as Schedule Policy/Career include staff who have “substantive participation and discretionary authority in agency grantmaking,” the rule states. Job functions that could trigger the designation include drafting funding opportunity announcements, evaluating proposals, and selecting grant recipients — all common tasks at science agencies that distribute federal funding.

Announcing the rule on social media, Trump wrote, “If these government workers refuse to advance the policy interests of the President, or are engaging in corrupt behavior, they should no longer have a job. This is common sense, and will allow the federal government to finally be ‘run like a business.’”

The proposed rule follows an executive order earlier this year in which Trump argued that accountability for civil service employees is “sorely lacking today” and said few supervisors are confident that they can remove an employee for poor performance.

Federal agencies were ordered by OPM in late January to submit preliminary lists of employees they would reclassify as Schedule Policy/Career by April 20. In mid-August, the agencies will be required to submit finalized lists of employees they determine to be in policy-related positions. The preliminary lists have not been made public, but some employees at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration already received notices from the agency that their positions would be reclassified, according to Government Executive.

Organizations such as the Union of Concerned Scientists and unions representing federal workers have spoken out against the proposed changes. Three separate lawsuits challenging the Trump administration’s plans were filed earlier this year and are ongoing.

In addition to making progress toward reclassifying thousands of federal employees as Schedule Policy/Career, the administration has continued to cut thousands of workers at science agencies through reductions in force (RIFs) and deferred resignation offers. Probationary employees have been a particular target for the administration, with Trump issuing a new executive order last week declaring that probationary employees will only attain full employment status (and associated job protections) if their managers review and sign off on their performance, rather than their employment automatically becoming permanent.