Scoop: Trump revamps "Schedule F," making it easier to cut federal workers

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: Axios

3 hours ago


The Trump administration on Friday will announce that it's moving ahead with a new rule, previously known as "Schedule F," that will make it easier to remove federal employees it believes are undercutting President Trump's agenda.

Why it matters: By stripping civil service protections from about 50,000 people — roughly 2% of the federal work force — Trump is continuing his far-reaching effort to trim the federal bureaucracy and make it more answerable to him.

The Office of Personnel Management's new rule — dubbed "Schedule Policy/Career" — will allow many career civil servants to be classified as "at will" employees, making them easier to remove.

Trump aides argue they need greater flexibility to fire civil servants who are underperforming, engaging in misconduct or undermining Trump's policy plans.

Zoom in: Such civil servants in nonpartisan roles traditionally have had job protections that shielded them from the political whims of whoever was in the White House.

But Trump and many of his backers have long believed that a "deep state" of Washington bureaucrats was undercutting his agenda.

Toward the end of his first term, Trump signed an executive order establishing a Schedule F category for federal employees.

President Biden rescinded the order after he took office, but after taking office again in January, Trump signed a new executive order reinstating and renaming it.

While he was out of office, Trump and his allies laid the groundwork for a new administration stocked with loyalists. Schedule F was a significant part of that plan

Many of the Trump allies who pushed for Schedule F now have key roles in the administration, including Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller and Management of Budget Director Russ Vought.

"They are making decisions and those decisions should be in line with the president's agenda. Unelected career bureaucrats should be held accountable to the agenda Americans

Read more: https://www.axios.com/2025/04/18/trump-federal-workers-schedule-f-firings

---

As a couple notes - Before he left office, Biden had OPM create and publish a Rule to slow this whole thing down should his rescinding of 45's original E.O. on Schedule Fs during that first term, be rescinded itself (which it ultimately was this past January).

This was Biden's Regulation - https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2024/04/09/2024-06815/upholding-civil-service-protections-and-merit-system-principles

When 45 created a new E.O. rescinding Biden's, some Unions threatened to file suit at the end of January to point out the Biden Rule (meaning there is a process that needs to happen in order to actually revoke a Rule (can't be arbitrarily done via another E.O.) - Trump's plan to reclassify, fire federal workers challenged by unions

They did eventually file - AFGE, AFSCME File Lawsuit Challenging Trump’s Schedule F, Efforts to Politicize Civil Service

Public Service Unions File Lawsuit Challenging Trump Administration Efforts to Politicize the Civil Service

(PDF) - https://democracyforward.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/2025-01-29-Dkt.-001-0-Complaint2609946.1-1.pdf

Ultimately, 3 different suits were filed regarding this - Litigation Against Trump’s Schedule F Order Escalates With Third Lawsuit

I haven't heard any status updates on those, perhaps because authority hasn't been used yet.

[SupportSanity]

1. This is where they gut fed work force and replace with loyalists

They already have the list of replacement loyalists ready to go.

Not that there isn’t enough to keep an eye on, but this is a BIG one to watch.

They do this and it will make DOGE look like kindergarten.

[iemanja]

2. This is how third world countries work

Trump is desperate to turn this country into a banana republic, with a weak economy, high unemployment, and disappearances. Making the bureaucracy political appointees is part of that.