Schedule F
The other time an administration sought a ‘more responsive’ federal workforce
An investigator into the Nixon administration’s civil service abuses says Schedule F shares a lineage with the disgraced former president.
Partnership for Public Service offers an alternative to “burning down” the civil service
The good government group traditionally has taken great pains to avoid partisan politics, but has become more outspoken since former President Trump unveiled Schedule F.
Leaked Project 2025 training videos warn aspiring political appointees of ‘persecution’ by career feds
Though the videos don’t overtly discuss the Trump campaign or the Heritage Foundation-led transition project’s endorsement of Schedule F, conservatives repeatedly stressed the need for more “political control” of agencies.
Unions applaud ‘most pro-union president in history’ following Biden’s decision to end campaign
Labor leaders said their goal remains to defeat Trump’s bid to return to the White House next year.
Here’s how Trump’s new vice presidential pick stacks up on federal workforce issues
Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, has been at the center of GOP efforts in Congress to “dismantle” diversity, equity and inclusion programs at federal agencies, and has suggested that if Trump wins re-election, he should fire “every mid-level bureaucrat” in government.
Donald Trump wants to reinstate a spoils system in federal government by hiring political loyalists regardless of competence
COMMENTARY | The potential reemergence of Schedule F is not the first time a president has sought to install political loyalists in the federal civil service, but its impact could prove disastrous.
Biden trashes Trump’s civil service plans in press conference
The president described Project 2025 and Schedule F threats to the United States’ democratic system during a press conference Thursday.
Project 2025: The worst-case scenario for veterans
COMMENTARY | "By dismantling key agencies and slashing federal jobs, Project 2025 risks undermining not only government efficiency but also the livelihoods of tens of thousands of veterans," writes one veteran.
Schedule F looms over trust in government summit
New survey data from the Partnership for Public Service shows there is strong bipartisan support among the public for a nonpartisan civil service.
Bush-era national security officials warn against Schedule F
In a letter to congressional committee staff directors, a cadre of former Republican appointees urged lawmakers to pursue a “middle ground” of federal employee accountability that preserves merit systems principles.
OPM’s new acting director defends federal telework, anti-Schedule F regulations
Rob Shriver defended the Biden administration’s workforce policies, citing new data suggesting fewer federal employees telework than their private sector counterparts.
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Governance experts launch a group to oppose Schedule F
The new organization hopes to offer a consensus way forward on civil service reform issues in addition to opposing efforts to politicize the federal workforce.
Employee groups laud Biden’s anti-Schedule F regulations
Unions and management organizations alike applauded the Office of Personnel Management’s effort to at least slow a future Republican administration’s efforts to strip federal employees of their civil service protections.
The positive impact of policy entrepreneurs in the public service
COMMENTARY | The rewards for entrepreneurial leadership by top government careerists are low. They shouldn't be.
Updated
OPM issues its final rule for Schedule F protections
The federal HR agency finalized its rule offering protections for career civil servants meant to safeguard against the potential reemergence of the Trump-era Schedule F policy.
The MacGuffin of Schedule F
COMMENTARY | Plans to convert federal workers in policy-related positions into at-will employees leave the workforce dangling.
MSPB political firing case raises new questions on Schedule F
The Housing and Urban Development Department’s 2017 firing of a probationary employee over alleged leaks was politically motivated, the agency tasked with enforcing civil service laws said last week.
Politicians may rail against the ‘deep state,’ but research shows federal workers are effective and committed, not subversive
COMMENTARY | "Our years of research about the people who work in the federal government finds that they care deeply about their work, aiding the public and pursuing the stability and integrity of government," write two scholars.
One agency’s Trump-era plan included stripping protections from 68% of its workforce
The Office of Management and Budget appeared to have taken a maximalist approach to the controversial job category, proposing to strip the civil service protections from IT workers, recruiters and even executive assistants.
Trump’s civil service plans unsettle labor leaders at start of campaign season
Lawmakers and leaders of the American Federation of Government Employees warned that the former president represents a “threat to democracy” at the union’s annual legislative conference.
