This bill creates a new excepted-service category called Schedule Policy/Career (effectively Schedule F) for career positions of a confidential, policy-determining, policy-making, or policy-advocating character that are not normally expected to turn over with a Presidential transition. It directs the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to list and regulate excepted service schedules, requires agency reviews and petitions to place positions in the new schedule, and removes many Civil Service Rules from applying to removals of employees in these positions.
The bill also directs OPM to rescind parts of a 2024 rule and holds specific CFR provisions inoperative until those changes are made, and it nullifies Executive Order 14003.
This matters for any agency that has career staff who shape policy—attorneys, senior analysts, counsel, and managers whose duties involve drafting regulations, guidance, or supervising policy work. By shifting these roles into the excepted service and narrowing appeal protections, the bill materially changes hiring, dismissal, and bargaining dynamics across the executive branch and places substantial implementation tasks on OPM, agency heads, and the Federal Labor Relations Authority.
At a Glance
What It Does
Establishes 'Schedule Policy/Career' as an excepted-service category for certain career policy positions and instructs OPM to adopt implementing regulations; makes removals from those positions largely outside normal Civil Service Rules; and rescinds parts of prior OPM rulemaking and Executive Order 14003. It requires agencies to review and either petition OPM or publish determinations about which positions belong in the schedule.
Who It Affects
Federal agency heads and political appointees, career policy staff (e.g., attorneys, senior policy advisors, GS-13+ analysts), OPM and the Director, and unions/collective bargaining units represented under chapter 71 of title 5. It also implicates the Federal Labor Relations Authority when agencies seek unit exclusions.
Why It Matters
The bill reclassifies a broad swath of policy-facing career roles into an excepted service that is subject to faster removal and fewer procedural protections, shifting the balance between presidential control and merit protections and altering bargaining coverage and staffing practices across the executive branch.
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What This Bill Actually Does
The bill establishes a new excepted-service category called Schedule Policy/Career for career positions that perform confidential or policy-facing work but are not normally expected to turn over with each Presidential administration. OPM must list positions across the standard excepted-service schedules (A–E) and the new Policy/Career schedule, and it must adopt regulations to implement the new schedule and related procedural changes.
That regulatory work includes making specific Civil Service Rule and CFR adjustments identified in the bill and issuing guidance on how agencies should transition existing appointment processes into the new schedule.
Agency heads must run a two-stage review: a preliminary agency-wide review of positions covered by subchapter II of chapter 75 by April 20, 2025, and a complete review by August 18, 2025, then annual reviews thereafter. For positions not already excepted from the competitive service by statute, agency heads must petition the OPM Director to recommend that the President place identified positions into Schedule Policy/Career and must include written justifications.
For positions already excepted by statute, agencies must publish determinations in the Federal Register that identify which of those positions qualify as Policy/Career.Once positions land in Schedule Policy/Career, the bill removes the application of most Civil Service Rules to removals from those positions (except where statute requires otherwise), while still directing agencies to prohibit the personnel practices listed in 5 U.S.C. § 2302(b). The bill further requires agencies to address whether incumbents in Policy/Career positions should be excluded from bargaining units under chapter 71 and to petition the FLRA where appropriate.
OPM must also issue guidance within 30 days after enactment identifying additional categories departments should consider for the schedule.Finally, the bill directs OPM to rescind parts of the April 9, 2024 final rule that the bill views as inconsistent with its goals and holds specific CFR provisions inoperative until those rescissions are implemented; it also states that Executive Order 14003 shall have no force or effect and requires agencies to suspend, revise, or rescind agency actions taken under certain provisions of that EO.
The Five Things You Need to Know
Agency review deadlines: agencies must complete a preliminary review by April 20, 2025 and a full review by August 18, 2025; thereafter reviews must occur at least annually.
OPM rulemaking deadline: the Director must adopt implementing regulations and guidance no later than January 19, 2029.
Removal/appeals change: Civil Service Rules will not apply to removals from Schedule Policy/Career positions (except where statute requires), effectively narrowing procedural and appeal protections.
Collective bargaining impact: agencies must petition the FLRA as needed to exclude Policy/Career incumbents from bargaining units under 5 U.S.C. § 7112(b) where they 'formulate, determine, or influence' agency policy.
EO and regulatory revocations: the bill declares Executive Order 14003 unenforceable and directs OPM to rescind specific parts of the April 9, 2024 final rule and hold certain CFR provisions (including subpart F of part 302 and parts of 210.102 and 302.101) inoperative until rescission.
Section-by-Section Breakdown
Every bill we cover gets an analysis of its key sections.
Placement of policy-facing career positions in Schedule Policy/Career
This section sets the rule that career positions of a confidential, policy-determining, policy-making, or policy-advocating character that are not normally expected to change with Presidential transitions shall be appointed under the new Schedule Policy/Career. Practically, this transfers certain career roles out of the competitive service and into an excepted category, which the bill then treats as subject to different personnel procedures (notably fewer removal protections). Agencies must identify such positions and either petition or publish determinations as required later in the bill.
OPM authority to list schedules and implement changes
OPM is required to list Schedules A–E and the new Policy/Career schedule and to adopt regulations to implement the act, with a specific reference to applying Civil Service Rule 6.3(a) where appropriate. The provision directs OPM to rescind or amend rules that impede implementation and emphasizes attention to particular parts of the CFR (subpart D of part 212, subparts A and C of part 213, and 302.101 of title 5). This is the bill’s mechanism for changing the regulatory baseline that governs classification, appointment, and removal.
Agency review process, petitions, and Federal Register publication
Agency heads must conduct both preliminary and complete reviews of positions covered by subchapter II of chapter 75 by specified dates and annually thereafter. For positions not already excepted by statute, agencies must petition the OPM Director to recommend placement in Schedule Policy/Career and supply a written justification. For positions already excepted by statute, agencies must publish their determinations in the Federal Register, and those published positions will be treated as Policy/Career for purposes of later actions. The section also lists concrete duties that should receive special attention (e.g., drafting regulations, supervising attorneys, collective bargaining negotiators), giving agencies practical criteria to apply during reviews.
Personnel practices, removal standards, and political loyalty language
Agencies must establish rules to prohibit the personnel practices listed in 5 U.S.C. § 2302(b) with respect to employees or applicants in Schedule Policy/Career, but the bill also states that Schedule Policy/Career employees are not required to politically support the President while they are required to 'faithfully implement administration policies' and may be dismissed for failing to do so. That combination creates a statutory requirement to preserve certain anti-retaliation protections while explicitly authorizing dismissal for failure to implement administration policy, which tightens supervisory leverage over policy staff.
Immediate regulatory conforming changes
This section orders the Director to rescind parts of the April 9, 2024 final rule titled 'Upholding Civil Service Protections and Merit System Principles' where those changes impede the bill’s objectives, and it temporarily holds specified CFR provisions inoperative until rescission and any judicial review are resolved. The clause creates a concrete, binding instruction to OPM to rewrite existing rules that currently protect competitive-service procedures and disciplinary processes.
Revocation of Executive Order 14003
The bill declares Executive Order 14003 (Protecting the Federal Workforce) to have no force or effect and requires agency heads to review and suspend, revise, or rescind agency actions taken under specified provisions of that EO. This is an explicit policy reversal signaling that agencies must remove protections or procedures issued pursuant to EO 14003 that the bill views as constraining discipline and staffing flexibility.
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Explore Government in Codify Search →Who Benefits and Who Bears the Cost
Every bill creates winners and losers. Here's who stands to gain and who bears the cost.
Who Benefits
- Presidential appointees and agency heads: Gain greater control to staff policy teams with employees they deem 'trustworthy' and face fewer procedural barriers to dismiss or reassign policy personnel.
- Administrations seeking rapid policy change: Can expect faster personnel turnover among policy-facing career staff and fewer procedural restraints on removing or reassigning those individuals.
- OPM (institutionally): Gains a central, directive role to reclassify positions and reshape long-standing civil service rules through the required rulemaking and guidance.
Who Bears the Cost
- Career policy employees (e.g., GS-13+ policy analysts, counsel, senior advisors): Face reduced removal protections and increased risk of dismissal or reclassification, and greater pressure to conform to administration policy implementation.
- Federal employee unions and bargaining representatives: Will need to defend bargaining-unit coverage and may confront expedited FLRA proceedings seeking unit exclusions, complicating negotiations and contract stability.
- OPM and agency HR shops: Incur significant administrative burden and legal exposure from conducting agency-wide reviews, preparing petitions, issuing Federal Register notices, and reworking classification and discipline procedures on a compressed timeline.
Key Issues
The Core Tension
The central dilemma is between presidential control and executive responsiveness versus the merit-system protections designed to preserve an independent, nonpartisan civil service: the bill gives administrations more direct control over policy staff to ensure loyalty and rapid policy execution, but that control comes at the cost of reducing procedural protections, potentially politicizing career positions and undermining institutional expertise that successive administrations rely on.
The bill creates several implementation ambiguities and legal flashpoints. First, the definitions—'confidential, policy-determining, policy-making, or policy-advocating character' and 'normally subject to change as a result of a Presidential transition'—are fact-intensive and lack clear bright-line tests; agencies and courts will likely dispute which positions properly belong in the new schedule.
Second, the bill purports to preserve the prohibition on prohibited personnel practices under 5 U.S.C. § 2302(b) while simultaneously allowing dismissal for failure to 'faithfully implement' administration policies; reconciling protection from politically motivated personnel actions with a dismissal standard tied to policy implementation will create legal tension and likely litigation over what constitutes insubordination versus protected objection or whistleblowing.
Operationally, the statute forces OPM and agencies to execute a large volume of classification decisions, notice publishing, and FLRA petitions under tight timeframes and then to rework longstanding CFR provisions. That creates transitional risk: misclassifications could produce mass grievances, unfair labor practice claims, and litigation.
The instruction to rescind parts of the April 2024 rule and hold certain CFR sections inoperative invites immediate judicial challenges about OPM’s authority to unilaterally overturn prior rulemaking, and it raises separation-of-powers questions when agencies implement substantive personnel policy shifts by statute-backed regulatory fiat.
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