President Trump signed an executive order on June 3, 2026, reclassifying approximately 8,000 federal employees into a new employment category called Schedule Policy/Career, stripping them of civil service protections that have shielded the federal workforce from political interference for over a century.
Nearly all of the affected employees are at the highest level of the civil service, known as GS-15, according to NPR. The reclassification transforms them into at-will employees, meaning the government can now fire them without providing a reason or allowing them to appeal to the Merit Systems Protection Board.
The move culminates an effort Trump launched during his first term to reduce federal employee job protections. During that earlier attempt in 2020, Trump issued an executive order creating Schedule F, but it went largely unimplemented and was quickly rescinded under the Biden administration. The current version, renamed Schedule Policy/Career, comes with a longer runway for implementation.
According to Federal News Network, the Trump administration originally estimated that as many as 50,000 positions could be reclassified under this policy. Earlier estimates had suggested the number could reach 200,000. The administration has not ruled out expanding the pool at a later time, though officials said no positions beyond those in Wednesday’s order are expected to be converted immediately.
The history of civil service protections in the United States dates back 140 years. As NPR reported, after a disgruntled jobseeker assassinated President James A. Garfield in 1881, Congress began enacting laws granting federal workers job protections to shield the government from corruption and provide continuity from one administration to the next. The 1978 Civil Service Reform Act codified these protections into modern form, requiring agencies to follow formal processes before firing employees and giving workers an opportunity to appeal.
Office of Personnel Management Director Scott Kupor defended the change as essential for accountability. “It’s also about a restoration, in our mind, of the democratic process,” Kupor told reporters Wednesday, according to Federal News Network. “In order to affect the policy priorities of the administration, we need to have people willing to and capable of carrying out those directives.”
The administration emphasized that Schedule Policy/Career positions will still be filled based on merit and not political affiliation, and that employees retain whistleblower protections. However, they will lose their right to appeal adverse actions and will no longer be eligible for student loan repayment options or recruitment and retention incentives.
Critics argue the move will politicize the federal workforce. “This is a blatant attempt to corrupt the federal government by eliminating employees’ due process rights so they can be fired for political reasons,” said Everett Kelley, national president of the American Federation of Government Employees, according to Federal News Network. “Workers who once felt comfortable reporting waste, fraud, abuse and mismanagement at their place of employment because they were protected from retaliation will now be afraid for their jobs if they speak out.”
Don Moynihan, a professor at the University of Michigan’s Ford School of Public Policy, warned in NPR’s reporting that removing protections will create what he calls “bubbles around policymakers.” If career civil servants fear retaliation for sharing bad news with the president, they will be less likely to do so, potentially undermining the quality of information reaching decision-makers. He pointed to recent examples: the head of the Defense Intelligence Agency was fired after the agency issued a report contradicting Trump’s assessment of airstrikes on Iran, and the commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics was replaced after a disappointing jobs report.
The Trump administration is already facing multiple lawsuits challenging the constitutionality of Schedule Policy/Career. Plaintiffs allege that the creation of this new category violates due process rights, exceeds presidential authority, and contradicts federal statute. Legal experts predict the issue will ultimately reach the Supreme Court, where the conservative majority has shown openness to expanding presidential power over the executive branch.
Sources
- NPR — Trump’s executive order reclassifying 8,000 federal employees into at-will status, civil service history dating to 1881, GS-15 affected employee levels, OPM Director Kupor’s statements, expert analysis from Don Moynihan, and examples of recent political firings.
- Federal News Network — Details on Schedule Policy/Career implementation, the 50,000-position estimate, the 200,000 earlier estimate, Kupor’s statements, Everett Kelley’s criticism, Democracy Forward’s Skye Perryman’s statement, and context on the 2020 Schedule F precedent.
