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

WASHINGTON -- President Donald Trump on June 3 signed an executive order that removes civil service job protections from approximately 8,000 senior federal employees, making them easier to fire and ending their right to appeal dismissals to an independent board.

The order formally transfers those positions into a classification called Schedule Policy/Career, an excepted-service category the administration established on Trump's first day back in office in January 2025. According to Federal News Network, the order "formalizes the long-expected federal employment classification and eliminates civil service protections for thousands of senior-level positions across government."

Nearly all of the affected workers hold GS-15 ratings, the highest pay grade in the standard civil service scale outside the Senior Executive Service, according to NPR. The roles include directors, deputy directors, senior policy advisors, chiefs of staff, budget officials, legislative affairs officers and communications managers spread across more than 248 organizational units, according to FedSmith, which reviewed the order's 229-page appendix.

Under existing competitive service rules, removing a federal employee for poor performance or misconduct requires documented improvement plans, written notice and the right to appeal to the Merit Systems Protection Board. Under Schedule Policy/Career, according to FedSmith, an agency need only provide written notice to separate a covered employee, bypassing that multi-step process entirely. Affected workers also lose the right to challenge their reclassification.

Office of Personnel Management Director Scott Kupor told reporters on a press call the same day that the mechanism allows workers to "be removed effectively at will." He said no loyalty tests would be used and that whistleblower protections remain in place. Under federal law, employees also cannot be fired based on political affiliation, though, as NPR noted, enforcement of that law would fall to the agencies themselves.

The White House fact sheet on the order states that agencies can remove Schedule Policy/Career employees "for poor performance, misconduct, corruption, or subversion of Presidential directives without lengthy procedural hurdles."

The administration initially estimated the reclassification could reach roughly 50,000 positions. The Wednesday order is narrower. U.S. News and World Report noted the administration scaled the initial figure down to about 8,000, though Trump could expand the pool later.

Criticism from federal unions was immediate. Everett Kelley, national president of the American Federation of Government Employees, said in a statement reported by FedSmith that workers who once felt protected reporting "waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement" would now fear for their jobs if they speak out. In March 2026, a coalition including AFGE, AFSCME and the AFL-CIO filed an expanded federal lawsuit targeting the reclassification framework, according to FedSmith.

Skye Perryman, president of Democracy Forward, one of the organizations challenging the rule, said in a statement cited by Time that "when government experts can be fired without cause, it's not just federal workers who are harmed."

Litigation has not halted implementation. According to FedSmith, every district court injunction against the policy has been stayed on appeal, allowing it to remain in effect. Courts have not yet ruled on the merits of the June 3 order itself.

The order is a successor to Executive Order 13957, which Trump issued in October 2020 near the end of his first term under the name Schedule F. That order went largely unimplemented and was rescinded by President Biden on his first day in office. Trump reinstated the framework under its new name on January 20, 2025.

Agencies have seven days from the date of the order to notify affected employees and update personnel records, according to FedSmith.

Sources cited:
- Federal News Network (https://federalnewsnetwork.com/workforce/2026/06/trump-moves-about-8000-federal-positions-to-schedule-policy-career/)
- NPR (https://www.npr.org/2026/06/03/nx-s1-5742806/trump-federal-employees-civil-service-job-protections-schedule-f)
- FedSmith (https://www.fedsmith.com/2026/06/03/what-the-new-schedule-policy-career-order-means-for-federal-employees/)
- White House Fact Sheet (https://www.whitehouse.gov/fact-sheets/2026/06/fact-sheet-president-donald-j-trump-increases-accountability-in-the-federal-workforce/)
- U.S. News and World Report (https://www.usnews.com/news/national-news/articles/2026-06-04/trumps-executive-order-to-strip-thousands-of-federal-job-protections-explained)
- Time (https://time.com/article/2026/06/04/trump-executive-order-schedule-policy-career-classification-fire-federal-workers-at-will/)
- White House Executive Order (https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2026/06/implementing-schedule-policy-career-in-the-excepted-service/)