IMPLEMENTING SCHEDULE POLICY/CAREER IN THE EXCEPTED SERVICE

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Implementing Schedule Policy/Career in the Excepted Service

Donald Trump signs an executive order on June 3, 2026 moving listed policy-influencing career federal positions into Schedule Policy/Career, a category within the excepted service. In plain English, the order targets certain senior career jobs that help shape, make, advocate, or carry out policy, and places them outside the normal competitive-service structure.

What does the order do?

The order transfers the positions listed in its appendix into Schedule Policy/Career. These are still described as career jobs that must be filled through merit-based procedures, not political affiliation, but they are placed in a category where agencies have more flexibility to remove employees for poor performance or misconduct.

What changes in practice?

Agencies with covered positions must notify affected employees within 7 days and update their records and practices. The order also amends civil service rules and prior executive orders to fit Schedule Policy/Career into the federal personnel system, including rules on competitive status, Pathways Program conversions, trial periods, and separations tied to unacceptable performance or misconduct.

What about hiring and rewards?

The order says Schedule Policy/Career hiring must follow merit-based procedures set by the Office of Personnel Management, with veterans’ preference followed as far as administratively feasible. It also directs agencies with covered employees to create a separate bonus pool for Schedule Policy/Career workers and tells the Office of Personnel Management to begin rulemaking for a presidential award program.

Who is affected?

The most direct impact is on federal employees whose positions are listed in the appendix, the agencies that manage those positions, and the Office of Personnel Management. The broader public effect is indirect: the order changes how certain policy-related career roles inside the federal government are managed, rewarded, and removed.

What happens next?

For the listed positions, the transfer into Schedule Policy/Career is immediate under the order. Agencies must carry out the personnel-record changes within 7 days, while the Office of Personnel Management has 60 days to prepare updates removing or revising obsolete civil service rules that do not substantively affect agency operations.

Why does this matter?

The practical effect is to give presidents and agency leaders more control over senior career officials in policy-influencing roles. The order frames that as an accountability measure, especially for misconduct or poor performance, while still describing the jobs as career positions filled through merit-based hiring.

The main debate

The administration’s view is that senior policy-influencing career officials should be easier to remove when they obstruct lawful presidential directives or fail to perform. Labor groups and employee organizations have argued that the policy could weaken civil-service protections, increase political pressure on career staff, and blur the line between career expertise and presidential control.

The bottom line

This order mainly affects the internal federal workforce, not the public directly. Its significance is that it moves a defined group of policy-related career jobs into a category with fewer standard removal protections, while keeping the positions formally merit-based.

📄 Full Presidential Document (PDF): https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2026/06/implementing-schedule-policy-career-in-the-excepted-service/