President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Wednesday aimed at increasing accountability among senior federal employees who influence government policy, reviving a workforce reform effort that allows agencies to remove certain career officials more easily.
The White House said that the order places policy-influencing positions into a category known as Schedule Policy/Career, which covers employees involved in developing, directing, or advocating administration policies.
The new order reclassifies about 8,000 senior policy-influencing positions, a figure well below earlier estimates that suggested as many as 50,000 federal employees could eventually fall under similar workforce reforms.
Speaking during a White House signing ceremony, administration officials said existing personnel rules often make it difficult to discipline or remove employees in senior policymaking roles. They said the order is designed to make the federal workforce more accountable and improve agency performance.
Ahead of the order’s release, Office of Personnel Management Director Scott Kupor told reporters that the administration needed employees who were willing to carry out its policy priorities, according to Reuters. Kupor said workers could hold any political views, but those views should not interfere with carrying out lawful orders and policy directives.
Reuters also reported that James Sherk of the Domestic Policy Council said agencies have historically faced difficulty removing employees in policy-influencing positions and argued that the new order would allow agencies to address poor performance more quickly.
Policy Change
According to the White House, about 97% of the positions covered by the order are GS-15 or Senior Level roles, among the highest-ranking career positions outside the Senior Executive Service.
The administration said employees placed in Schedule Policy/Career remain career federal workers but can be removed more quickly for poor performance, misconduct, corruption or failure to carry out presidential directives.
The White House said the category includes employees who play a substantial role in shaping regulations, guidance, grant decisions and other government policies.
Broader Effort
The executive order is the latest step in Trump’s broader effort to reshape the federal workforce and increase accountability within federal agencies.
Earlier this year, the administration proposed changes that would shift oversight of certain federal layoff appeals from the Merit Systems Protection Board to the Office of Personnel Management. The administration said the proposal would streamline review procedures, while labor unions argued it could reduce independent oversight of employee terminations.
The administration has also pursued workforce reductions across multiple federal agencies this year. Those efforts have drawn legal challenges from unions and employee groups, while the White House has said the changes are necessary to reduce bureaucracy and improve government efficiency.
Disclaimer: This content was produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
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