Trump administration issues rule that makes it easier to fire federal workers

The Trump administration moved Thursday to issue a rule that would make it easier to fire tens of thousands of federal workers. The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) said it was reclassifying certain career civil service roles so agencies can “quickly remove employees from critical positions who engage in misconduct, perform poorly, or obstruct the democratic process by intentionally subverting Presidential directives”.

Traditionally, only political appointees – roughly 4,000 positions – can be dismissed “at will”.

Under the new rule, many nonpartisan roles would be shifted into a category called “Schedule Policy/Career,” effectively treating them as political appointees. That reclassification could allow the administration to remove employees it views as disloyal. The rule – set to be published in the Federal Register on Friday – also states that “personal or political loyalty tests as a condition of employment” are prohibited.

Critics argue the change would open the door to politically motivated purges. “We have successfully fought this kind of power grab before, and we will fight this again. We will return to court to stop this unlawful rule and will use every legal tool available to hold this administration accountable to the people,” said Skye Perryman, CEO of Democracy Forward.

The largest union representing federal workers called the rule “a direct assault on a professional, nonpartisan, merit-based civil service.” In a statement, American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) president Everett Kelley said OPM is “rebranding career public servants as ‘policy’ employees, silencing whistleblowers, and replacing competent professionals with political flunkies without any neutral, independent protections against politicization and arbitrary abuse of power.”

Trump briefly enacted a similar change at the end of his first term through an executive order known as “Schedule F,” which Joe Biden rescinded upon taking office in 2021. Stripping civil service protections has also been a central plank of the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 blueprint.

In a statement Thursday, anticipating the rule’s release, OPM director Scott Kupor said the reclassification would bring “much-needed accountability to career policy-influencing positions in the Federal government.”