BlockBeats News, April 19th: According to AXIOS, President Trump is restarting the "Schedule F" to streamline the process of federal employee dismissals. Approximately 50,000 policy-related federal employees (2% of the total) are planned to be reclassified as "at-will" employees, under which the government can more easily dismiss staff deemed "disloyal." Biden had revoked this policy upon taking office, but Trump reinstated it through an executive order on his first day back in the White House.
Traditional U.S. federal employees enjoy job protection and cannot be fired for political reasons. The "Schedule F" will switch policy-related positions to "at-will" employment, breaking a 140-year tradition of the Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act's neutral civil service. The U.S. Office of Personnel Management has mandated agencies to submit position restructuring proposals by April 20th. Critics accuse the Trump administration of turning the government into a "politically-purged" entity and undermining the professional civil service system.