Trump Widens Net for Cutting Career Staff Job Protections (1)

The Trump administration is gathering a list of career positions that should lose job protections, including staffers who evaluate grant applications, write agency budget requests, and interact with the media, according to a new memo from the federal government’s HR office.

Agency heads must submit their lists by late April, Office of Personnel Management Acting Director Charles Ezell wrote in a Monday memo. Unlike political staff, career employees work across administrations.

It’s the latest action implementing President Donald Trump’s vow to cull the federal workforce in the name of government efficiency. Last week, Trump signed an executive order that created a new category of career employees, known as “policy/career,” that his administration can more easily fire without violating civil service laws. Trump called the category “Schedule F” during his first administration.

Ezell said Trump will make the “final determination” about which positions will be classified as “policy/career,” which puts an employee at risk of dismissal under the executive order.

OPM didn’t immediately respond to Bloomberg Law’s request for comment.

The National Treasury Employees Union launched a legal attack last week against Trump’s executive order. NTEU represents employees in 37 federal agencies and offices, including staff at the IRS and Department of Health and Human Services.

The union accused Trump of violating the Administrative Procedure Act when he ignored a Biden administration rule that added new requirements for removing job protections for civil servants. The case is pending in the US District Court for the District of Columbia.

Ezell wrote in Monday’s memo that civil service law gives the president the authority to “directly nullify” the rule.

NTEU didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.