President Trump signed an executive order on Wednesday, June 3, that reclassifies about 8,000 senior federal employees as at-will workers, making it far simpler for the administration to fire them without cause or lengthy appeals.
The move targets high-level career civil servants, mostly at the GS-15 pay grade. These include directors of policy offices, their chiefs of staff, heads of regional operations, program managers, senior public affairs officials, and those who oversee major spending and grants.
The administration says these positions have significant influence over how policies are implemented.
Which Federal Employees Will Lose Job Protections?
The order brings back a version of the Schedule F idea from Trump’s first term, now called Schedule Policy/Career.
It creates a new category of federal employees who lack the traditional job protections that shield most civil servants from political pressure.
Until now, the roughly 2 million civilian federal workforce could generally be fired only for poor performance or misconduct after a formal process that included appeals.
The change triples the number of at-will positions in the executive branch. There are currently about 4,000 political appointees who serve at the president’s pleasure.
Adding the new group brings that total near 12,000. Officials had earlier floated reclassifying as many as 50,000 jobs, but settled on a smaller number for now. They have not ruled out expanding it later.
Administration Says Move Will Increase Accountability
OPM Director Scott Kupor described the step as a matter of basic accountability. “This is very much about accountability,” he told reporters. “It’s also about a restoration, in our mind, of the democratic process.”
Kupor, a former tech executive, argued that the president, the only elected head of the executive branch, should be able to count on senior staff to carry out his directives.
Also Read: 10,000 Federal Workers Quit as Tension Rise in Trump’s Administration
He compared it to how private companies work, where employees answer to a CEO who sets clear goals.
The administration insists the change does not revive the old “spoils system” of handing out jobs as political favors.
Hiring rules stay the same, and officials say no loyalty tests will be used. Employees still have whistleblower protections and cannot be fired for their political views alone, though agencies have to enforce those rules themselves.
The biggest practical difference is the loss of appeal rights if they are dismissed.
Critics Warn of Politicization of the Civil Service
Critics have called it a dangerous step toward politicizing the government. Skye Perryman, president of Democracy Forward, one of several groups already suing over the underlying rule, said the order threatens the independence of experts who handle public health, environmental protection, law enforcement, and other core services.
“When government experts can be fired without cause, it’s not just federal workers who are harmed; it’s the people across the country who rely on these essential services every day,” she said.
The civil service system itself dates back more than 140 years. After President James A. Garfield was assassinated in 1881 by a disappointed job seeker, Congress gradually passed laws to curb patronage and bring professional standards to government work.
Those protections were meant to preserve continuity and insulate career staff from shifting political winds.
Also Read: Inside Plan to Fire All Federal Workers Who Refuse to Sign Trump’s NDA
Don Moynihan, a professor at the University of Michigan’s Ford School of Public Policy, warned that removing protections for senior career officials will make people less willing to deliver bad news or push back when policies go off track.
“It creates bubbles around policymakers,” he said, as first reported by NPR.
Moynihan and others believe that major politicization could hurt government performance.
Studies have shown that highly politicized public institutions often see expertise drain away as experienced people leave.
Recruiting new talent also gets harder if potential hires doubt their work will matter or fear sudden dismissal.
Judicial challenges are looming, and many expect the issue to reach the Supreme Court.
The administration started with a more limited set of clearly policy-related jobs, which supporters believe improves their chances in court.
The case could turn on how much power Article II of the Constitution gives the president over the executive branch.
Conservative justices have recently shown openness to expanding that authority.
