Trump Moves 8,000 Federal Jobs to New Schedule, Easing Firings of Senior Policy Staff
Updated
Updated · MeriTalk · Jun 3
Trump Moves 8,000 Federal Jobs to New Schedule, Easing Firings of Senior Policy Staff
3 articles · Updated · MeriTalk · Jun 3
Summary
About 8,000 career federal positions will shift into Schedule Policy/Career under Trump's June 3 executive order, giving agencies broader power to remove senior policy employees deemed ineffective in carrying out lawful directives.
OPM said the change targets accountability rather than mass layoffs: hiring procedures stay the same, terminations cannot be based on political affiliation, and agencies must set up enforcement procedures.
Ninety-seven percent of the affected jobs are GS-15 or higher, with the list covering agency subcomponent leaders, chiefs of staff, policy advisers, attorneys, regulation writers and some GS-14 and GS-13 roles.
The administration narrowed the scope from OPM's earlier estimate of roughly 50,000 positions, saying it will focus only on the most senior policymaking career officials and has no current plans to expand it.
The order revives Trump's 2020 Schedule F concept, which Biden scrapped in 2021 after warning it could politicize the civil service; Trump reinstated the framework this year under the new name.