Trump Eases Path to Firing Federal Workers in Landmark Rule (2)

The Trump administration announced sweeping changes to the way federal workers are classified, making it easier for the president to fire nonpolitical public employees.

The changes, released in a final rule Thursday, will reclassify thousands of policy-related positions into a new category called “policy/career,” loosening job protections and allowing political appointees to fire them without violating civil service laws.

The final rule notes “the President has concluded that policy resistance is a significant problem and that Schedule Policy/Career is needed to address it.”

The move puts an uncertain number of jobs in the federal government into question, calling on agencies to identify which confidential, “policy-influencing” positions should be reclassified.

Federal agency heads have provided the Office of Personnel Management with a list of approximately 50,000 positions suggested for reclassification, or about 2% of the federal workforce, OPM Director Scott Kupor told reporters Thursday.

President Donald Trump ultimately will determine how many and which positions are shifted into the new category. The rule states that government attorneys in policy-influencing positions could be subject to the change but the new policy doesn’t specifically target attorneys.

The rule’s issuance follows a year of major policy shifts under Trump, ranging from the administration’s approach to civil rights law and climate change to public health and Justice Department priorities. The rule text calls out examples of federal employees opposing Trump during each of his two terms by leaking documents and giving information to the news media.

Kupor disputed criticisms that the reclassified positions will effectively be subject to a political test, allowing Trump to replace career federal employees with his loyalists.

“People are free to agree or disagree with obviously any of the priorities that any president has, this president or future presidents,” Kupor said. But “if their disagreement leads them to then try to actively thwart or undermine the execution of those priorities,” then employees in the reclassified policy-related positions could face termination or other discipline.

OPM will define policy positions as including those that draft or edit policy documents or offer policy advice to agency leadership, even if they don’t ultimately make policy decisions.

The reclassified positions won’t become direct presidential appointments, but will be hired under the same merit-based system as other career civil service jobs, according to the rule. It also says existing restrictions and procedures for widespread layoffs remain in place.

The rule will take effect in 30 days, after which Trump can issue an executive order officially designating which positions will shift to the “policy/career” classification.

Federal worker unions and advocates said Thursday they will revive their earlier lawsuits against the policy. Unions sued Trump in 2025 after he signed an executive order kicking off the process to remove job protections, but proceedings were largely held up awaiting the issuance of the final regulation.

Whistleblower Protections

In addition to losing the right to appeal terminations, employees reclassified to “policy/career” won’t be able to file whistleblower retaliation claims with the Office of Special Counsel.

Instead, the OPM rule instructs each federal agency to create its own in-house process for hearing those claims.

“The whistleblower protections are there,” Kupor said. The OPM will reinforce to the agencies that the expanded disciplinary powers for reclassified positions should focus on “whether they are refusing to effect their duties on behalf of the American people.”

The policy, first known as Schedule F, was originally proposed by Trump in 2020, but didn’t come to fruition before he left office. It was revived on the first day of Trump’s second term.

“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,” Trump posted on Truth Social last April. “This is common sense, and will allow the federal government to finally be ‘run like a business.’”

The number of positions reclassified within each agency could vary widely. After the 2020 proposal, the Environmental Protection Agency suggested changing the designation of 579 EPA workers. The National Labor Relations Board proposed zero reclassifications at that time.

As the administration looks for targeted terminations under the new personnel classification, it has also sought to reduce the size of the federal government overall. Trump eliminated more than 300,000 workers during his first year in office, although about half appear to have voluntarily accepted a deal to quit in exchange for several months of paid leave.