The Trump administration has enacted a new federal employment category intended to increase accountability among senior career officials, though the changes affect a relatively small portion of the federal workforce. President Donald Trump signed an executive order on June 3 establishing a "policy/career" classification, which applies to approximately 8,000 high-level career employees in supervisory or policymaking positions, far fewer than the 50,000 workers initially anticipated.

The new category, developed over 17 months by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), focuses on top-tier civil servants, including division and regional office heads, regulatory attorneys, chief information officers, and senior human resources officials. Of these positions, about 97 percent already carry the GS-15 or senior leader designation. In comparison, the entire federal workforce comprises roughly 2 million employees, alongside about 4,000 political appointees.

This measure follows a previous Trump-era attempt to create a similar category known as Schedule F, which was halted by the Biden administration and later faced regulatory hurdles that limited its revival. Unlike Schedule F, the new "policy/career" schedule maintains merit-based hiring protections and does not alter the fundamental recruitment process.

One significant change under the executive order is the enhanced ability for agencies to remove employees in these roles for “misconduct or poor performance.” The reclassified positions are treated more like at-will employees, meaning those removed lose access to the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) for appeals. Additionally, if such employees file whistleblower complaints, their own agency—not the independent Office of Special Counsel—will investigate these claims.

Despite these modifications, experts and government officials note that it remains notoriously difficult and costly to discharge underperforming or problematic federal civil servants. The removal process can extend over several years, often discouraging supervisors from initiating action. Surveys indicate that around 40 percent of federal supervisors lack confidence in their ability to terminate employees, even in cases of serious misconduct, contributing to instances where poorly performing workers remain employed.

Supporters argue that ensuring top civil servants can be held accountable is essential to the faithful execution of presidential agendas, provided those policies align with legal and constitutional standards. They emphasize that this accountability mechanism does not constitute a loyalty test but rather aims to uphold government efficiency and integrity.

Labor unions and some policymakers have criticized prior efforts to alter civil-service protections, warning that such initiatives could erode longstanding merit-based principles and facilitate political favoritism. However, the current executive order stops short of removing hiring protections or broadly restructuring the civil-service system.

As agencies begin notifying affected employees of their new status, the administration faces the challenge of balancing greater managerial flexibility with safeguarding civil-service norms developed over more than a century.