OPM Pushes Back on Criticism of New Federal Job Category
As federal employees brace for the possibility of being converted into the new Schedule Policy/Career job category, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is defending its creation.
OPM Director Scott Kupor says the final rule establishing Schedule Policy/Career, which took effect March 9, is about accountability and executing on the president’s priorities, not about returning to the patronage system.
“I think most federal employees know this — and certainly all the ones I’ve encountered have had no problem with this — your job is ultimately to effect lawful actions that the president determines are the appropriate objectives for the organization,” said Director Kupor at an event hosted by Federal News Network. “That’s what this does — basically codify what essentially has always been the practice of the executive branch.”
OPM estimates about 50,000 employees in “policy influencing” positions could ultimately be converted into Schedule Policy/Career. Agencies were ordered to identify positions for reclassification and submit them to OPM. Under the rule, the conversions cannot be finalized until President Trump issues a directive authorizing the changes.
Director Kupor said that once the conversion happens, federal employees will be notified and then it’s largely business as usual.
“Now you’re under a different designation, and business will be as usual,” said Director Kupor. “But if any of those individuals ultimately determines that they’re unwilling or uninterested in pursuing the policies of the administration … then they potentially could be removed by people in that organization.”
In many cases, reclassified employees would have limited ability to appeal to the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB), could lose some recruitment, retention, or relocation incentives, and oversight of Prohibited Personnel Practices (PPPs) would shift from the Office of Special Counsel to individual agencies.
About 94 percent of the comments that OPM received were in opposition to the rule.
Lawsuit Amended
Meanwhile, federal labor groups and other organizations filed an amended complaint to their lawsuit challenging Schedule Policy/Career.
The groups argue that the imposition of Schedule Policy/Career would amount to a violation of federal statutes, the Constitution, and the Administrative Procedure Act’s ban on arbitrary and capricious decision making.
“It would allow political leaders to reach deep into federal agencies to remove and replace unknown and unheralded civil servants whose work is critical to keeping our country safe but whose viewpoints may run afoul of the prevailing political narrative of the day,” said Tim Whitehouse, executive director of Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER), one of the plaintiffs in the case.
