OPM's Efforts to Strengthen Protections Against Schedule F Face Doubts from Experts
The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has issued a proposed rule to clarify and reinforce protections for career federal employees against the potential return of Schedule F, a policy that would have made it easier to fire certain workers. The rule aims to ensure that civil service protections cannot be removed without the employee's voluntary consent and establishes a process for agencies to review requests to move positions from the competitive service to the excepted service. However, experts express concerns that a proposed rule can be easily undone, and Democratic lawmakers are also pushing for legislation to prevent future administrations from enacting Schedule F-type policies. The proposed rule will be open for public comments for the next 60 days.