Trump Administration Moves to Ease Discipline and Dismissal of Senior Career Federal Employees

By Ginika Igboke

The Trump administration is advancing a major change to federal workforce rules that would make it easier to discipline—and potentially fire—career federal employees in senior roles, a shift that could affect an estimated 50,000 workers across the government.

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM), which oversees the federal civil service, is set to publish a final rule on Feb. 6 creating a new employee classification known as “Schedule Policy/Career positions.” The category applies to senior career officials who are involved in implementing administration policies.

Under the new rule, employees designated as Schedule Policy/Career will be exempt from key provisions of Title 5 of the U.S. Code, specifically Chapters 43 and 75. Those chapters govern performance appraisals and adverse actions, including the procedures agencies must follow when disciplining, demoting, or terminating federal employees.

OPM Director Scott Kupor announced the change in a memorandum issued on Feb. 5, ahead of the rule’s publication in the Federal Register. The memorandum states that OPM has amended its regulations to exclude Schedule Policy/Career employees from the procedural protections typically required for performance-based and adverse personnel actions.

“As a result, agencies may take personnel actions such as suspensions, demotions, and terminations against Schedule Policy/Career employees without the procedures created by those regulations,” the memorandum says.

Historically, career federal employees have enjoyed significant job protections, including the right to appeal disciplinary actions and dismissals to an independent review board. While political appointees generally serve at the pleasure of the president, career employees have been shielded from at-will termination to preserve a professional, nonpartisan civil service.

Under the new classification, affected employees will no longer be able to appeal to that independent board. OPM has instructed federal agencies to revise their internal policies accordingly, including disciplinary and administrative grievance procedures, and to inform both current employees and job applicants that the previous statutory protections related to performance and conduct will no longer apply.

The rule is expected to take effect within 30 days of its publication.

In a blog post published on Feb. 5, Kupor argued that long-standing civil service protections, while originally well-intentioned, have undermined democratic accountability and effective governance.

“Democracy is replaced by bureaucracy—unelected civil servants who may subvert the will of the people by pursuing policies of their own making and resisting policies put in place by the elected president,” Kupor wrote. He added that although most federal employees carry out their duties faithfully, some resist or delay implementing presidential initiatives because they believe there will be no consequences.

Kupor emphasized that the new rule does not eliminate existing whistleblower protections for designated employees. He said agencies will be required to establish safeguards to prevent retaliation against workers who report waste, fraud, abuse, or legal violations through appropriate channels.

The roughly 50,000 employees potentially affected represent a small fraction of the approximately 2 million civil service workers employed in the executive branch as of December 2025.

The change has drawn criticism from federal employee advocates, who argue that it weakens the principles established by the Pendleton Act of the late 19th century. That law transformed the federal workforce from a partisan spoils system into a merit-based civil service largely insulated from political pressure.

Kupor countered those concerns by stating that the rule explicitly prohibits disciplinary action or termination based on an employee’s personal or political support—or opposition—to the president or his policies.

“Rather, they are required to faithfully implement administration policies to the best of their ability, consistent with their constitutional oath and the vesting of executive authority in the president,” he wrote.

The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), the nation’s largest federal employee union, strongly opposed the rule change, warning that it threatens the stability and professionalism of the federal workforce.

“This rule is a direct assault on a professional, nonpartisan, merit-based civil service and the government services the American people rely on every day,” AFGE National President Everett Kelley said in a statement. “When Americans see turmoil in Washington, they don’t ask for more politics in government—they ask for competence and professionalism. This rule moves in the opposite direction.”