OPM final rule strips civil service protections from 50,000 federal workers

OPM published the final Schedule Policy/Career rule on Feb. 6, 2026. It takes effect March 8. The rule establishes a new employment category within the federal government's excepted service for workers in 'policy-influencing' roles, stripping them of longstanding civil service protections and making them at-will employees.

OPM estimates approximately 50,000 federal employees will be affected. Reclassified workers lose the right to appeal suspensions, demotions, or firings to the Merit Systems Protection Board. They also lose access to pay incentives, student loan repayment benefits, and Presidential Rank Awards.

The rule received over 40,500 public comments during a 45-day comment period. About 94% opposed the rule. OPM's final rule, more than 250 pages long, addressed thousands of comments from unions, nonprofits, Democratic lawmakers, and individual federal employees who said it would politicize the civil service.

OPM Director Scott Kupor told reporters the rule is not about political appointments or loyalty tests and that agencies are 'inundated' with misconduct and poor performance by civil servants that can't be addressed under current rules. 'You can't run an organization if people are refusing to carry out lawful objectives,' he said.

The rule also changes how whistleblower retaliation complaints are investigated. Under the new rule, individual agencies will set up their own internal investigation processes — replacing the independent Office of Special Counsel, which has historically handled those complaints. Critics say this eliminates the independence that gave whistleblower protections meaning.

Schedule Policy/Career won't automatically convert any positions. Agencies have 30 days to compile lists of qualifying roles, which go to OPM, which sends recommendations to the president. Trump will issue a new executive order formally reclassifying the approved positions. OPM told agencies not to wait for the executive order to begin preparing internal policies.

Congress can block Schedule Policy/Career through a Congressional Review Act resolution, which requires a simple majority in both chambers. AFGE, Democracy Forward, and other organizations have filed or announced lawsuits. The Biden administration's April 2024 regulations that specifically protected career employees from reclassification were also rescinded by OPM's final rule.