Many federal employees do not pay close attention to the human resources structure that dictates the restrictions or protections provided according to their position within the federal structure. While that makes sense as the topic does not often arise for most employees, it can become important.
Recent changes in the federal government’s structure have highlighted ongoing and upcoming transformations. While some changes are already in progress, others are still being finalized.
Here is a summary of another change that will potentially impact tens of thousands of federal employees in some way.
Creating Schedule G
President Trump has issued an Executive Order entitled Creating Schedule G in the Federal Service. This is not a big surprise to federal employees who have been paying attention to changes the administration is making to the federal government’s structure.
Under the terms of this Order, Schedule F is no longer listed. That category of employees is now referred to as “Schedule Policy/Career” (formerly Schedule F).
What happened to Schedule F? President Trump signed EO 14171, Restoring Accountability to Policy‑Influencing Positions, effectively reviving his 2020 Schedule F Executive Order, now renamed Schedule Policy/Career. This revoked President Biden’s EO 14003 and reaffirmed the framework established in 2020.
The Agency and OPM proposals for “Schedule Policy/Career” are still under regulatory review, including drafting new amendments to the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) and refining guidance on petitions, classification criteria, and appeal processes.
Agencies have begun notifying employees, and some have initiated voluntary buyouts or early-offer packages; however, no mass reclassifications have occurred yet.
What is the Excepted Service?
Excepted Service employees are federal employees who are outside the Competitive Service—they aren’t hired via standard merit-based open competition and lack traditional civil service protections.
This category encompasses specialized roles across various career tracks (e.g., Schedule A–E hiring authorities) and numerous national security, intelligence, legal, and policy positions. It often includes attorneys, intelligence analysts, and political aides.
What is Schedule G?
The new Executive Order establishes Schedule G within the Excepted Service as a new category for noncareer policy-making or policy-advocating positions that typically change with a new president.
These are non-career positions requiring White House Personnel approval, expected to be filled during a presidential transition period.
Schedule G is intended to fill a gap. The current Schedules A–C and Policy/Career do not always include transient policy roles in an administration.
Employees in these positions are expected to resign or be replaced when the appointing president leaves office, due to the inherently political nature of the jobs.
While the White House has not released a statement estimating how many people would be impacted by this change, it could potentially impact tens of thousands of policy-focused workers in the federal workforce.
This Executive Order is a change designed to make federal agencies more responsive to presidential direction and policies. President Trump refers to running the government “like a business” and this is part of that strategy and approach to government.
The earlier Schedule F sparked lawsuits and executive pushback; Schedule G’s broader use could revive legal and political challenges surrounding civil service protections. Some of these cases are still pending in the legal system. Future decisions could impact what happens with “Schedule Policy/Career” and they could potentially impact the implementation of Schedule G as well.
