Biden's Office of Personnel Management finalizes a rule designed to prevent any future president from reinstating Schedule F

The Biden administration's Office of Personnel Management finalized the Upholding Civil Service Protections and Merit System Principles rule on April 4, 2024, explicitly designed to prevent a future administration from stripping career employees of their job protections through reclassification. The rule, published as 89 FR 24982, established that civil service protections cannot be involuntarily removed from employees and gave workers the right to appeal reclassification attempts to the Merit Systems Protection Board. OPM Director Kiran Ahuja framed the rule as a necessary safeguard after the first Trump administration had attempted to politicize the career civil service. The Trump administration's OPM would later target this rule directly when reinstating Schedule F in 2025.