50K Senior Officials Lose Protections Under Trump Rule

The Trump administration is loosening job protections for tens of thousands of senior career federal employees responsible for carrying out its policies—a move that would make it easier to fire them. The Office of Personnel Management on Thursday issued a final rule creating a new employment category for high-ranking civil servants in policy-related roles, affecting an estimated 50,000 workers out of about 2.3 million civilian employees. Those shifted into the new category would lose civil service protections that have been in place for decades, the Wall Street Journal reports, including the right to appeal firings and certain disciplinary actions to an independent board.

While the roughly 4,000 political appointees already serve at the president's discretion, per the New York Times, career staff members historically have been shielded from partisan pressure under a merit-based system dating to the late 19th century that replaced patronage hiring. OPM officials said the change is aimed at employees who they say are obstructing President Trump's agenda, defining the affected positions as "policy-determining, policymaking or policy-advocating." OPM Director Scott Kupor said, "People can't be conscientious objectors in the workforce in a way where it interferes with their ability to carry out their mission." Open resistance to administration policy, combined with poor performance, could be grounds for removal, he added. The rule cites behavior such as leaking to the media to undermine policy as potentially subject to discipline.

Federal employee unions and advocacy groups argue the move could be used to target workers for their political views and to chill internal dissent, per the Journal. "This rule is a direct assault on a professional, nonpartisan, merit-based civil service," said Everett Kelley, president of the American Federation of Government Employees. The Government Accountability Project and the National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association have already sued over the underlying executive order, saying the policy conflicts with a 1978 law that restricts at-will employment to political appointees. OPM counters that it will not ask employees' party affiliation, will follow whistleblower protections, and will not use the rule to justify mass layoffs. The administration will decide which positions are affected, Kupor said.