The New and Improved Schedule F is Now Schedule P/C

Keith’s note: A final rule by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) titled “Improving Performance, Accountability and Responsiveness in the Civil Service” (preview text) has dropped and will appear in the Federal Register tomorrow. As implemented, it will lead to tens of thousands of nonpartisan career civil servants being moved to Schedule Policy/Career (Schedule P/C, a revived Schedule F) and being stripped of their civil service protections. The rule says that the President can fire anyone in the new Schedule P/C who disagrees with whatever the Administration says or does. Protect Democracy filed a suit a year ago and will be filing an amended complaint soon. [Earlier NASAWatch posts] Here’s the summary of what this all means according to OPM:

• “The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is issuing a rule to increase career employee accountability. Agency supervisors report great difficulty removing employees for poor performance or misconduct. The final rule authorizes agencies to move policy-influencing positions into Schedule Policy/Career. These positions will remain career jobs filled on a nonpartisan basis. Yet they will be at-will positions excepted from adverse action procedures or appeals. This will allow agencies to quickly remove employees from critical positions who engage in misconduct, perform poorly, or obstruct the democratic process by intentionally subverting Presidential directives. The rule requires agencies to establish internal policies protecting employees from prohibited personnel practices.”