📋OPM strips civil service protections through Schedule F executive order

The 1978 Civil Service Reform Act grants executive power to create new job categories outside merit-based protections. Trump exploited this loophole to convert 50,000 policy-related positions into at-will employment, effectively ending the century-old tradition of professional civil service independence.

Scientists, economists, and analysts now face termination if their research contradicts presidential priorities. The EPA loses climate researchers, Treasury loses banking regulators, and Justice loses career prosecutors—replacing institutional knowledge with political loyalty as the primary job qualification.

The American Federation of Government Employees represents workers whose fundamental employment security vanished overnight. Schedule F positions cannot appeal terminations or demand cause for dismissal, reducing union negotiations to salary and benefits while eliminating protection from political retaliation.

The law that ended 19th-century patronage systems crumbles as Trump recreates the spoils system with modern efficiency. Federal agencies return to hiring based on political connections rather than qualifications, reversing the Progressive Era reforms that created competent government administration.