in effect
This is a final rule from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), effective March 9, 2026, that creates a new federal employment category called “Schedule Policy/Career.” It authorizes agencies to move existing career civil service positions that involve shaping, making, or advocating government policy into this new category, which sits in the excepted service rather than the competitive service.
Career employees whose positions are moved into Schedule Policy/Career lose access to the formal adverse action procedures under Chapter 75 of Title 5 and lose the right to appeal firings or other adverse actions to the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB). Hiring into these positions still must follow merit-based procedures — competitive hiring for positions coming from the competitive service, existing procedures for positions already in the excepted service — so appointments remain nonpartisan. The rule reverses a Biden administration rule from April 2024 that had restricted such reclassifications and required procedural steps before positions could be moved. Employees moved into Schedule Policy/Career retain protections against prohibited personnel practices, including protection from discrimination and retaliation for whistleblowing, and agencies must adopt internal policies documenting those protections. Existing student loan repayment benefits and recruitment, relocation, or retention incentives continue under their original service agreement terms for affected employees.
Federal career employees currently in jobs classified as policy-influencing — such as regulation writers, officials in agency policy offices, and similar roles — are affected if their agency moves their position into Schedule Policy/Career, because they can then be removed without the formal notice, response opportunity, and independent appeal rights that apply to most competitive service employees. Federal agencies gain broader practical authority to remove employees in these positions quickly for poor performance, misconduct, or failure to carry out lawful directives. The MSPB loses appellate jurisdiction over adverse actions taken against employees in this schedule.