Schedule Policy/Career Takes Effect as Agencies Begin 8,000 Employee Conversions

The formal movement of federal employees into the new Schedule Policy/Career job category– which removes some traditional civil service protections, including appeal rights related to certain personnel actions – has started. Schedule Policy/Career is the successor to Schedule F which was introduced in the first Trump administration. 

President Trump signed an executive order moving 8,000 federal employees serving in over 4,800 positions into Schedule Policy/Career. Roughly 97 percent of the positions moving over are at the GS-15 level or above. A smaller number at GS-13 and GS-14 will be converted mostly within the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).

Agencies have until June 10 to let affected employees know.

While the Trump administration initially said up to 50,000 policy-making positions could be impacted, an official tells MeriTalk the president wanted to focus on the most senior policy-making officials, and that there are no plans to move additional job titles at this time. 

The executive order included a 229-page appendix listing the exact positions that are being transferred broken down by agency.

Some of the most frequently listed position titles include program managers, attorney advisors, program analysts, and human resources specialists, according to data analysis compiled by Leadership Connect.

The Department of Defense is reclassifying the most positions, with more than 1,600 position description codes being reclassified. That’s followed by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) with 571 and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) with 400.

On Monday, June 8, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) released additional guidance and FAQs on implementing the job move.

The guidance noted that employees cannot appeal their move into Schedule Policy/Career and that current workers can be promoted into a Schedule Policy/Career position.

The Trump administration also provided agencies with a sample termination notice that agencies can use when terminating a Schedule P/C employee. OPM says terminations must be based on “performance, conduct or job or mission-related reasons,” and added that managers must “still must be fair, follow law and policy.”

Administration Emphasizes Accountability

The administration says the creation of Schedule Policy/Career will improve accountability and ensure the federal workforce is carrying out the president’s policy agenda. Administration officials insist it’s not a politicization of the federal workforce. 

“You can have any political views, but if you allow those views to basically interfere with your willingness to actually carry out lawful orders and policy directives with the administration, then this provides a mechanism for people in those agencies to be able to be removed effectively at-will,” said Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Director Scott Kupor.

Unions vow to continue the fight in the courts. 

“The practical implications of this action are clear. Workers who once felt comfortable reporting waste, fraud, abuse and mismanagement at their place of employment because they were protected from retaliation will now be afraid for their jobs if they speak out,” said American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) National President Everett Kelley.