Bureaucrats Get the Boot: Faster Firings for Policy Slackers
Published Date: 1/31/2025
Presidential Document
Summary
The President is bringing back a rule to make sure federal workers who influence policies can be held responsible for their actions. This affects employees in important policy roles and makes it easier to remove those who don’t follow leadership or perform poorly. The change starts right away and aims to keep the government running smoothly without wasting money on ineffective workers.
Analyzed Economic Effects
4 provisions identified: 0 benefits, 4 costs, 0 mixed.
Reinstatement of Schedule Policy/Career
The order immediately reinstates Executive Order 13957 (Creating Schedule F) and treats the date of this order, January 20, 2025, as the date of that prior order. It replaces the letter "F" with the words "Policy/Career" and applies to positions of a confidential, policy-determining, policy-making, or policy-advocating character.
Dismissal Ground: Failure to Implement Policy
The order amends the reinstated Schedule Policy/Career to state that employees in or applicants for those positions are not required to personally or politically support the President but must faithfully implement administration policies. The order says: "Failure to do so is grounds for dismissal."
Revocation of Protections from EO 14003
The order revokes Executive Order 14003 of January 22, 2021, and directs agency heads to review actions arising under specified parts of that order related to discipline and unacceptable performance and to suspend, revise, or rescind those actions "as soon as practicable."
OPM Must Identify More Positions Quickly
Within 30 days of the date of this order (i.e., by February 19, 2025), the Director of the Office of Personnel Management must, after consulting with the Executive Office of the President, issue guidance about additional categories of positions that agencies should consider recommending for Schedule Policy/Career.
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