Trump Strips Civil Service Protections From 8,000 Senior Federal Workers

President Donald Trump signed an executive order on June 3 stripping civil service protections from roughly 8,000 senior career federal employees, reviving a contentious plan that critics warn will let the White House purge the government of officials it considers disloyal.

The order finalizes a new classification known as "Schedule Policy/Career," the successor to the "Schedule F" concept Trump first floated in his previous term. Employees moved into the category become effectively at-will, meaning they can be disciplined or dismissed far more easily than under traditional civil service rules. They also lose the right to appeal adverse actions to the Merit Systems Protection Board, and whistleblower complaints would be handled by their own agency rather than the independent Office of Special Counsel.

According to the administration, about 97% of the affected positions are at the GS-15 level or above, encompassing senior leaders, agency deputies, chief information officers, regional officers, program managers, attorneys and senior policy officials. A senior administration official defended the move as a matter of execution rather than ideology, saying, "In order to effect the president's policy priorities, we need people in these senior positions willing and capable of carrying out those directives," and insisting there are "zero loyalty tests."

Federal employee unions reacted with fury. Everett Kelley, president of the American Federation of Government Employees, called the order "a blatant attempt to corrupt the federal government by eliminating employees' due process rights so they can be fired for political reasons." Several unions have signaled they will challenge the policy in court, arguing it violates the Civil Service Reform Act and the constitutional rights of career workers.

The 8,000 figure is notably smaller than the roughly 50,000 positions the Office of Personnel Management once estimated could be swept into the category, a scope that had alarmed good-government groups across the political spectrum. OPM Director Scott Kupor framed the order as a tool to improve "employee accountability" and align the workforce with elected leadership. But with litigation already mounting, the ultimate reach of Schedule Policy/Career — and whether it survives judicial review — is likely to be settled in the courts rather than at the signing desk.

The order revives a battle that has simmered since Trump first introduced Schedule F by executive order at the end of his earlier term, only to see it rescinded before it could take effect. Supporters argue that career officials in senior policy roles wield enormous influence over how laws are implemented and should answer more directly to elected leadership. Opponents counter that the merit-based civil service, built over more than a century to insulate the federal workforce from patronage and political retaliation, exists precisely to prevent the kind of mass dismissals the new classification could enable. How many of the 8,000 affected workers ultimately leave government — by firing, resignation or reassignment — may prove the clearest measure of the order's real-world impact.