Restructuring and Realigning Government: Schedule F Regulations Emerging
Schedule F, the former term for the topic in guidance previously issued by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), is now covered by the Executive Order Restoring Accountability To Policy-Influencing Positions Within the Federal Workforce. Regardless of the name or the shape it takes within the federal bureaucracy, this policy is moving forward. OPM guidance and a new proposed rule use the phrase “Security Policy/Career” instead of Schedule F.
On January 27, 2025, OPM issued guidance to agencies. The guidance noted the Executive Order signed on January 20, 2025, and reinstated and amended the previous Executive Order 13957 issued in October 2020. As part of this, the OPM guidance eliminated any relevant policy on this topic issued by the Biden administration.
Latest Steps to Implement Security Policy/Career Positions
On April 18, 2025, OPM wrote a proposed rule to amend civil service regulations, formally establishing the “Schedule Policy/Career” classification for career employees in policy-determining, policy-making, policy-advocating, or confidential roles. This category was referred to as Schedule F during the first term of the Trump administration. As of this writing, this proposed rule has not yet been published in the Federal Register. It should appear next week.
This rule would make these employees at-will by removing access to adverse action procedures or appeals. It would do this in order to allow quickly removing any of these employees for poor performance, misconduct, or subversion of presidential directives.
OPM estimates that approximately 50,000 positions, or about 2% of the federal workforce, would eventually be reclassified into Schedule Policy/Career positions. The proposed rule does not directly reclassify positions; a subsequent executive order would be required after the final rule is issued.
The rule excludes line federal employees (e.g., Border Patrol agents or wage and hour inspectors) who implement policies rather than shape them.
OPM’s actions align with the executive order’s stated goal of addressing systemic accountability issues, as highlighted by surveys showing only 41% of civil service supervisors are confident in removing employees for misconduct and 26% for poor performance. The proposed rule aims to tackle cases where federal employees reportedly resist or undermine executive leadership directives.
The guidance emphasized flexibility for agencies to interpret “policy-influencing” roles, allowing petitions for positions beyond the specified criteria if they demonstrate a confidential, policy-determining, or policy-advocating character.
“Draining the Swamp”: Guidance Reflects New “Fact Sheet” Issued by President
Late on April 18th, President Trump issued a fact sheet entitled Trump Creates New Federal Employee Category to Enhance Accountability. This document references a proposed rule from OPM that has not yet appeared in the Federal Register but will be published shortly.
The sheet states that the OPM rule “empowers federal agencies to swiftly remove employees in policy-influencing roles for poor performance, misconduct, corruption, or subversion of Presidential directives, without lengthy procedural hurdles.”
The presidential statement cites these reasons for creating the new category of federal employees:
- Federal employees report their agencies do not hold employees accountable
- This happens because the process for removing federal employees is lengthy and difficult
- Unaccountability allows corruption to fester in agencies
- Some bureaucrats also use the protections the system gives them to oppose presidential policies and impose their own preferences
- Unaccountable bureaucracy undermines democracy
Key Provisions of Proposed OPM Rule
The rule proposed by OPM is about 144 pages long. Legal offices and human resources offices in agencies will be reading and digesting this proposed rule for some time to understand it and to begin the process of implementing it as soon as the final rule is published.
Public comments on the proposed rule will be due within 30 days after it is issued.
For those readers who do not intend to read the entire proposed rule (which is probably all readers), here is the quickest possible summary of the key points in this document:
• At-Will Employment: Employees in Schedule Policy/Career positions can be removed quickly for poor performance, misconduct, or for undermining presidential directives, without the usual procedural protections or appeal rights.
• Scope of Positions: The rule targets career employees in policy-influencing roles, not political appointees.
• Nonpartisan Hiring: Appointments to these positions must remain nonpartisan and based on merit, not political affiliation.
• No Chapter 43/75 Protections: Employees who are into Schedule Policy/Career lose coverage under Chapter 43 (performance-based actions) and Chapter 75 (adverse actions) of Title 5. The impact of this is that they cannot appeal removals or other adverse actions to the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB).
Guidance For Agencies and Ultimate Impact
Agencies were previously given 90 days to conduct a preliminary review and identify positions for transfer into Schedule Policy/Career under OPM guidance issued in January 2025.
The requirements of this proposed rule will not take effect after the new rule has been finalized. Keep in mind, this is a proposed rule, and it may change when the final rule is issued.
Also, as expected and as happened in the first term of the Trump administration, unions are already challenging the policy, claiming violations of due process and statutory protections. Decisions on any or all of these lawsuits could impact the final implementation of this proposed rule.
Congress is also now considering proposals that could further alter job security, pay, and benefits for federal employees, including options for new hires to choose between at-will status and traditional protections. FedSmith will provide more information on these topics as significant changes occur.
