The Theodore Roosevelt Building, location of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, on Feb. 13, 2024, in Washington, D.C. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)
Biden deemed the rule to be "a step toward combatting corruption and partisan interference to ensure civil servants are able to focus on the most important task at hand: delivering for the American people."
The Office of Personnel Management, the government's chief human resources agency, on Thursday implemented new regulations barring career civil servants from being reclassified as political appointees, or as other at-will workers, who are more easily dismissed from their jobs. It comes in response to "Schedule F," an executive order Trump issued in 2020 that sought to allow for reclassifying tens of thousands of the 2.2 million federal employees and thus reduce their job security protections, according to the Associated Press.
Biden nullified Schedule F upon taking office, but if Trump were to revive it during a second administration, he could dramatically increase the around 4,000 federal employees who are considered political appointees and typically change with each new president. How many employees might have been affected by Schedule F is unclear.
The National Treasury Employee Union used freedom of information requests to obtain documents suggesting that federal workers such as office managers and specialists in human resources and cybersecurity might have been subject to reclassification — meaning that the scope of Trump's order might have been broader than previously believed, the AP reported.
The new rule could counter a future Schedule F order by spelling out procedural requirements for reclassifying federal employees, and clarifying that civil service protections accrued by employees cannot be taken away regardless of job type. It also makes clear that policymaking classifications apply to non-career, political appointments and cannot be applied to career civil servants.
Former President Donald Trump, the presumptive GOP nominee, speaks at a campaign event in Grand Rapids, Mich., Tuesday, April 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya, File)
The nation's most prominent conservative think tank recommended an overhaul of the Department of Justice and the FBI to combat a "radical liberal agenda."
The Biden administration's rule, which runs to 237 pages, is being published in the federal registry and is set to formally take effect next month. The Office of Personnel Management first proposed the changes last November, then reviewed and responded to 4,000-plus public comments on them. Officials at some top conservative organizations were among those opposing the new rule, but around two-thirds of the comments were supportive.
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If Trump wins another term, his administration could direct the Office of Personnel Management to draft new rules. But the process takes months and requires detailed explanation on why new regulations would be improvements — potentially allowing for legal challenges to be brought by opponents.
Fox News' Kaitlin Spraugue and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
Danielle Wallace is a reporter for Fox News Digital covering politics, crime, police and more. Story tips can be sent to danielle.wallace@fox.com and on Twitter: @danimwallace.
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