Biden revokes Schedule F on day two, restoring civil service protections for federal workers

President Joe Biden signed Executive Order 14003, Protecting the Federal Workforce, on January 22, 2021 — his second full day in office — revoking Trump's Schedule F order and directing all agencies to suspend or rescind any steps taken to implement the reclassification. The move restored civil service protections for the career federal workforce and signaled that Biden viewed an independent civil service as essential to government functioning. Because no employees had actually been transferred to Schedule F during the Trump administration's final weeks, the revocation was largely preventive. Biden's order also directed agencies to refrain from creating positions in the excepted service without merit-based hiring procedures.