June 10, 2026 marked a critical implementation deadline for federal agencies following President Trump’s June 3 Executive Order expanding the use of Schedule Policy/Career.

The Executive Order reclassifies thousands of senior “policy-influencing” career civil service roles — primarily at the GS‑15 and senior levels — into a new excepted-service category that significantly reduces traditional civil service protections.

The new classification is widely understood as an evolution of the previously proposed Schedule F framework.  Schedule F — originally created in 2020, repealed in 2021 and reinstated in 2025 — would allow federal government agencies to reclassify workers, remove certain civil service protections and make them at-will employees, which essentially would make it easier for agencies to fire employees for any reason. Its reiteration, the Schedule Policy/Career classification, could affect thousands of federal employees who could be reclassified under the June 3 Executive Order and may lose key civil service protections.

What the U.S. Office of Personnel Management Says

In response to the Executive Order, a June 8 memorandum from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) states that certain positions as having a “confidential, policy-determining, policy-making or policy-advocating character” will be placed as positions into Schedule Policy/Career.

The memorandum has renewed attention on efforts to reclassify federal employees in policy-related roles into positions more easily subject to removal, an approach that mirrors earlier Schedule F initiatives.

An appendix to the memorandum includes the specific positions to be placed into Schedule Policy/Career organized by agency, and agency heads were given seven calendar days to take required actions, including notifying affected employees and updating personnel records to reflect the new classification.

While employees in designated roles were placed into the Schedule Policy/Career category effective June 3, the June 10 deadline represents the point at which agencies were expected to complete key administrative and personnel steps to implement the changes.

What Federal Employees Need to Know

Reclassified employees placed into Schedule Policy/Career will become “at‑will” employees, generally meaning that they can be fired more easily, have their traditional due‑process protections reduced or removed and their agencies can take faster disciplinary action.

Technically, this means that there will be no lengthy performance improvement plan, potentially no advance notice before removal and faster termination decisions. Reclassified employees in policy-determining roles generally will no longer have the right to appeal their terminations, which means the OPM’s “at-will rule” takes away the oversight of the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB). Complaints, such as whistleblower claims, may be handled inside the agency.

Additionally, in an additional appendix to its directive, OPM stated that agencies should document any employee who refuses to sign an acknowledgement that their position is being moved into Schedule Policy/Career. An employee’s refusal to acknowledge movement into Schedule Policy/Career is not necessary to effectuate the move, however, agencies should not take administrative action against an employee for refusing to do so, according to OPM.

Partisan Politics?

Some have said that reinstating Schedule F via the new Schedule Policy/Career category would politicize federal civil service, which has long been nonpartisan.

Reminiscent of Schedule F, Schedule Policy/Career classification will categorize certain federal employee positions as “policy making” or “policy evaluating,” and therefore become more so-called responsive to a political party. The action also limits federal unions’ abilities for collective bargaining and their ability to negotiate and to utilize official time working on union activities.

OPM, however, has stated that agencies are prohibited from requiring Schedule Policy/Career employees to pledge personal or political loyalty to the President or his policies: “Like all career employees, they must faithfully implement administration policies to the best of their ability, consistent with their constitutional oath and the vesting of executive authority solely in the President. Agencies will issue internal rules forbidding appointing or promoting Schedule Policy/Career employees based on their political affiliation or campaign activities.”

Further, it should be noted that the Pendleton Act in 1883 instituted a competitive hiring process and protected workers from partisan-based removal. The U.S. government then slowly developed a professionalized, public-oriented civil service, and the Pendleton Act was followed by a series of statutes and regulations that culminated in the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978, which largely created our current “merit system,” according to the website Protect Democracy.

Challenges Ahead for Federal Employees

While the deadline is less about when employees were legally reclassified and more about when agencies were required to operationalize those changes what likely will occur is a wave of implementation decisions, some of which may be inconsistent or rushed, that could expose agencies to legal challenges, particularly if employees believe they were improperly designated under what is essentially a modern version of Schedule F.

If you are an employee in the federal workplace, consulting with an experienced Tully Rinckey attorney can make all the difference when issues arise. A skilled attorney can fight to get you the best possible outcome in your case. Call 8885294543 or contact us online today for a consultation and get an advocate who will fight for your rights and help secure your career and your future.

Michael C. Fallings focuses his practice on federal sector labor and employment law. Michael has extensive experience litigating cases on behalf of employees at the U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB), Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), and in both state and federal courts. He also has experience negotiating settlement agreements on behalf of federal employees. Michael has received numerous awards, including the 2026 Lawdragon 500 Leading Litigators in America, LawDragon 500 the Next Generation (2024-25), Lawdragon 500 Leading Civil Rights & Plaintiff Employment Lawyers (2025), National Black Lawyers Top 40 under 40, and Super Lawyers Rising Star (2023).