According to the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), the regulation asserts that nonpartisan career civil servants holding protected status cannot have this designation revoked, and it prohibits their reclassification as political appointees.
Former President Trump had previously signed an executive order in 2020 permitting the reclassification of numerous federal employees, thereby eliminating their job protections. Upon assuming office, President Biden rescinded this executive order, which the White House criticized as a threat to the established merit-based civil service system of the nation.
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The White House condemned Trump's executive order, known as “Schedule F,” stating that it "would have stripped career civil servants of their civil service protections that ensure that decisions to hire and fire are based on merit, not political considerations."
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This latest regulation is envisioned to forestall any future attempts by Trump to issue a similar executive order if he were to be reelected. It specifies that designations related to policymaking cannot be imposed on nonpartisan career civil servants, but solely on noncareer political appointees.
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In a statement on Thursday, President Biden affirmed, “Today, my Administration is announcing protections for 2.2 million career civil servants from political interference, to guarantee that they can carry out their responsibilities in the best interest of the American people.” He added, “This rule is a step toward combatting corruption and partisan interference to ensure civil servants are able to focus on the most important task at hand: delivering for the American people.”
The regulation follows a thorough review by OPM of over 4,000 public comments submitted during the rule-making process.