Political Appointees & Schedule C

Every new presidential administration brings thousands of political appointees into the federal government — people who serve at the pleasure of the president, not through competitive civil service examinations. These positions are governed by two overlapping frameworks: Schedule C of the excepted service (covering roughly 1,500 confidential and policy-determining positions below the senior level) and the Senior Executive Service (covering about 8,000 career and noncareer positions at the top of agency leadership). Together with about 1,200 positions requiring Senate confirmation, they form what the Office of Personnel Management's "Plum Book" catalogs every four years. Understanding how political appointees work — how they are hired, limited, and constrained — is essential to understanding how U.S. government transitions actually function.

Current Law (2026)

Legal Authority

• 5 U.S.C. § 2103 — The excepted service: all civil service positions not in the competitive service or Senior Executive Service; "unclassified civil service" and "excepted service" are synonymous; Schedule A, B, and C appointments all live here
• 5 U.S.C. § 2105 — Definition of "employee": includes persons appointed by the President, agency heads, and other authorized officials; establishes who counts as a federal employee for purposes of Title 5 protections and benefits
• 5 U.S.C. § 3131 — The Senior Executive Service: congressional declaration of purpose — SES exists to ensure executive management is "responsive to the needs, policies, and goals of the Nation"; must be administered to attract highly competent senior executives and ensure accountability
• 5 U.S.C. § 3132 — SES definitions and exclusions: "SES position" means any position above GS-15 or equivalent that is not specifically excluded; exclusions include FBI, DEA, CIA, ODNI, DIA, and NSA (which have their own separate senior personnel systems)
• 5 U.S.C. § 3133 — Authorization of SES positions: agencies must submit biennial requests to OPM for specific numbers of SES positions; OPM approves based on workload and mission need; provides basis for management control over SES headcount
• 5 U.S.C. § 3134 — Limitations on noncareer SES appointments: agencies must annually request authority from OPM to employ specific numbers of noncareer SES appointees; the number is based on demonstrated program needs; no individual agency may exceed 25% noncareer SES, and the government-wide total is capped at 10% of all SES positions
• 5 U.S.C. § 7323 — Political activity authorized; prohibitions: federal employees may take an active part in political management and campaigns; prohibited activities include: using official authority to interfere with elections, soliciting political contributions from subordinates or the public, running as a partisan candidate for office (most federal employees)
• 5 U.S.C. § 7324 — Political activities on duty; prohibition: employees may not engage in political activity while on duty, in government buildings, wearing official uniforms, or using government vehicles — applies to all employees including Schedule C appointees
• 5 U.S.C. § 7326 — Penalties: violations of §§ 7323–7324 subject employees to removal, grade reduction, debarment from federal employment up to 5 years, suspension, reprimand, and civil penalties up to $1,000

Schedule C: The Political Layer Below Senate Confirmation

What Schedule C is. Schedule C is a category of the excepted service created by executive order (and codified in 5 C.F.R. Part 213) that authorizes agencies to hire individuals in positions that are either confidential (the incumbent needs a close working relationship with a key political official) or policy-determining (the position sets the direction of government programs). Schedule C positions are typically at GS-15 or below — they are the chiefs of staff, senior advisers, press secretaries, special assistants, and policy directors who work directly for cabinet secretaries, deputy secretaries, and other confirmed officials.

How Schedule C works. Unlike competitive service jobs, Schedule C positions do not require an open competition, a written exam, or selection from a certified register. The selecting official simply chooses someone, and the agency submits a request to OPM to establish the position with a Schedule C designation. OPM reviews whether the position genuinely qualifies as confidential or policy-determining. If approved, the position is filled, and the incumbent serves at will — they can be removed at any time without the procedural protections of the competitive service.

The Plum Book. Every four years after a presidential election, the Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs and the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform jointly publish the "United States Government Policy and Supporting Positions" — known universally as the "Plum Book." It lists all Schedule C positions, all noncareer SES positions, all presidentially appointed positions requiring Senate confirmation, and most other positions available to incoming administrations. The book is the transition team's roadmap. It is publicly available online and runs to hundreds of pages.

Numbers. There are roughly 1,500 Schedule C positions in any administration, but the number fluctuates. New administrations sometimes establish new Schedule C positions; departing administrations sometimes convert positions to competitive service (a practice critics call "burrowing in" — installing allies in career positions just before leaving office). OPM's oversight function includes scrutinizing conversion requests near the end of administrations.

The Senior Executive Service: Where Career and Political Meet

SES structure. The Senior Executive Service, established by the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 (codified in 5 U.S.C. §§ 3131–3136), is the corps of approximately 8,000 federal executives who occupy positions at the top of agency hierarchies. SES encompasses both career appointees (who got there through a competitive merit process) and noncareer appointees (political appointees who serve at the pleasure of the agency head). Career SES members have much stronger job protections; noncareer SES members can be removed at will.

SES pay. Under 5 U.S.C. § 5382, OPM establishes a range of SES pay rates. In 2026, SES pay ranges from approximately $135,000 to $221,900 per year (the ceiling is set at Executive Level II, below the Vice President's salary). Within this range, each appointing authority sets individual SES pay based on performance. Performance bonuses (5 U.S.C. § 5384) of up to 20% of base salary can be paid to career SES members; noncareer SES members are generally not eligible for performance bonuses.

The 10% cap on noncareer SES. Congress enacted 5 U.S.C. § 3134 to prevent administrations from packing the SES with political appointees. OPM enforces government-wide and agency-level caps. No individual agency may have more than 25% of its SES positions filled by noncareer appointees. Across the entire government, no more than 10% of all SES positions may be noncareer. These caps reflect a deliberate policy choice: the SES should be predominantly professional, not political.

Career SES protections. A career SES member who is reassigned or removed has meaningful legal recourse. Under 5 U.S.C. § 3395, a career appointee may be reassigned within their agency but cannot be involuntarily reassigned to a lower-level position. Career SES members removed for poor performance have rights under § 3592, including the right to a 1-year performance improvement period (except during the initial probationary period). They can appeal adverse actions to the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB). This creates a structural tension: political leadership wants flexibility to move or remove career SES members; career SES members have legal tools to resist what they view as politically motivated action.

Hatch Act: Political Activity Rules

The Hatch Act (5 U.S.C. §§ 7321–7326) applies to all federal employees, including Schedule C political appointees. The core rules:

What is allowed. Federal employees — including political appointees — may: vote in any election; express opinions about political candidates and issues privately; attend political rallies and events on personal time; make financial contributions to political campaigns; display political bumper stickers on their personal vehicles; and campaign for candidates on personal time using their own resources.

What is prohibited. No federal employee — career or political — may: engage in political activity while on duty (§ 7324(a)(1)); conduct political activity in a federal building or government workplace (§ 7324(a)(2)); wear a uniform or official insignia while doing political activity (§ 7324(a)(3)); use a government vehicle for political activity (§ 7324(a)(4)); solicit political contributions from subordinates (§ 7323(a)(2)); run as a partisan candidate for federal office (most employees); or use official authority or influence to affect election outcomes (§ 7323(a)(1)).

Enforcement. The Office of Special Counsel (OSC), an independent federal agency, investigates Hatch Act complaints. OSC can refer cases to the Merit Systems Protection Board for disciplinary action. Penalties include removal, demotion, suspension, and civil fines up to $1,000 per violation (§ 7326). Political appointees have been disciplined and in some cases removed for Hatch Act violations. The Trump administration's first term generated a historically high number of OSC Hatch Act findings against senior officials.

"Further restricted" employees. The Hatch Act creates a special category of "further restricted" employees — those in sensitive policy positions including most SES noncareer appointees — who face stricter rules. Further restricted employees may not take an active role in partisan political campaigns at all, even on their own time, beyond basic voting and private expression.

How Administrations Use Schedule C and SES

Each incoming administration begins identifying Schedule C vacancies and SES noncareer positions during the presidential transition, guided by the Plum Book and OPM's transition guides. The Office of Presidential Personnel (OPP) in the White House coordinates all political appointment decisions. Cabinet secretaries and agency heads have meaningful input on their Schedule C and noncareer SES hires, subject to White House concurrence.

Historically, administrations fill Schedule C positions gradually — typically taking six months to a year to fully staff all 1,500 positions. The most visible positions (chiefs of staff, press secretaries, senior policy advisers for cabinet agencies) are filled in the first weeks; lower-profile positions may sit vacant longer.

"Burrowing in" — the conversion of a political appointee to a career position — occurs at the end of administrations when outgoing officials want to keep allies in government. OPM is required to scrutinize late-term conversion requests under 5 U.S.C. § 3132 and executive orders governing merit system principles. When conversions are found to have violated merit principles, OPM can take corrective action.

How It Affects You

If you're a federal career employee: You work alongside political appointees who may have authority over your program but who serve at will — they can be removed by the agency head at any time for any reason. Career employees have far stronger job protections: you cannot be removed without cause and have Merit Systems Protection Board appeal rights. Understanding which of your supervisors are political appointees versus career officials matters for navigating transitions. When administrations change, Schedule C and noncareer SES appointees leave; career staff remain. In a new administration's first weeks, political appointees often issue conflicting or ambiguous guidance — this is normal, and career employees are protected by law from being ordered to break the law or violate civil service merit principles. If you're asked to take an action you believe is illegal or improper, the Office of Special Counsel (osc.gov) handles prohibited personnel practice complaints, and the Merit Systems Protection Board (mspb.gov) handles wrongful removal appeals. The Trump administration's 2025 Schedule Policy/Career executive order — which attempts to reclassify policy-related career positions into a new at-will schedule — is being litigated; if your position is targeted, federal employee unions AFGE (afge.org) and NTEU (nteu.org) are your primary organizational resources.

If you're seeking a political appointment in any administration: The Plum Book (formally the "United States Government Policy and Supporting Positions") is published every four years after the presidential election and is freely available at gpo.gov — it lists every Schedule C, noncareer SES, and Presidential appointment position in the executive branch, including which require Senate confirmation. For Senate-confirmed positions (PAS), the White House's Presidential Personnel Office (PPO) manages nominations; networking into the transition team and policy shop for your issue area is the primary pathway. For Schedule C positions, hiring is done at the agency level with White House clearance — contact the agency's White House Liaison, who manages Schedule C hiring for that agency. Schedule C jobs end automatically when the selecting official leaves (and by custom when the administration ends); plan accordingly. The post-employment restrictions of the Hatch Act and revolving door rules apply from your first day — consult your agency ethics office before accepting. The Partnership for Public Service (ourpublicservice.org) tracks political appointment vacancies and provides transition resources.

If you're a taxpayer, voter, or policy-engaged citizen: The number of political appointees in the U.S. federal government — approximately 4,000 confirmed and at-will positions — is substantially larger than in comparable parliamentary democracies, where career civil service runs most executive functions with political direction limited to a smaller ministerial layer. This design choice means U.S. government is more responsive to election outcomes (more positions turn over) but also more vulnerable to politicization of technical and regulatory functions. The tension is visible in debates over agencies like EPA, FDA, the Census Bureau, and the CBO — which rely on career technical expertise but are led by political appointees. The Partnership for Public Service's Political Appointee Tracker (ourpublicservice.org/issues/presidential-transition) tracks how quickly new administrations fill positions and how many remain vacant. The "burrowing in" phenomenon — political appointees converting to career positions at the end of an administration — is monitored by OPM and is subject to audit; the Project on Government Oversight (pogo.org) publishes investigations of specific conversion cases.

If you're a journalist, researcher, or oversight professional: The Plum Book (gpo.gov) is your starting point for identifying political appointment positions. OPM's FedScope database (fedscope.opm.gov) provides aggregate data on political appointee counts by agency and over time — useful for tracking politicization trends. Individual Schedule C positions are not always publicly disclosed in real time; the most current information comes from agency websites, congressional oversight requests, and FOIA requests to agency White House Liaison offices. The Brookings Institution (brookings.edu) publishes the Vital Statistics on Congress and periodic analyses of political appointee trends. For tracking SES conversions and Schedule C hires, the Partnership for Public Service (ourpublicservice.org) and Government Accountability Project (whistleblower.org) maintain watchdog resources. If you're investigating specific burrowing-in cases, OPM's post-audit reports on Schedule C-to-career conversions are available through FOIA requests to OPM's Congressional and Legislative Affairs office.

State Variations

The Schedule C and SES systems are exclusively federal. However:

• Most states have analogous "exempt" or "at-will" political appointment systems for top executive branch positions, typically governed by state civil service laws
• State-level equivalents of the Plum Book exist informally — incoming governors use transition materials cataloging appointable positions
• State Hatch Act analogs vary widely; some states have comprehensive laws restricting state employee political activity, others have minimal restrictions
• Local government (municipal and county) political appointment rules are governed by local civil service laws and charters, with enormous variation

Pending Legislation

• MERIT Act proposals (recurring) — would require competitive examination for more positions currently designated Schedule C; status varies by Congress
• Schedule F executive order: In October 2020, President Trump issued Executive Order 13957 creating "Schedule F," which would have reclassified large numbers of career employees in policy-related positions into a new at-will category. President Biden rescinded it on his first day in office (January 21, 2021). President Trump re-signed Schedule F on his first day back in office in January 2025. OPM finalized a rule in 2024 (Biden administration) intended to make Schedule F harder to implement in future administrations; legal challenges and regulatory proceedings regarding the rule continued through 2026.
• Congressional oversight of the OPM's approval and monitoring of Schedule C positions has increased in recent years, particularly regarding late-term conversions and the scale of noncareer SES appointments

Recent Developments

• Schedule F's reinstatement in January 2025 is the most significant political appointee development in decades — it creates a new category for career employees in policy-related roles who can be reclassified as Schedule F, making them removable at will; implementation and legal challenges were ongoing as of early 2026
• The Biden OPM rule restricting Schedule F's future use (finalized November 2024) was being challenged by the Trump administration as of 2026
• The second Trump administration moved quickly to identify and remove or reassign career SES members perceived as policy obstacles, generating multiple MSPB cases and legal disputes
• OPM's tracking of Schedule C positions and noncareer SES appointments became a focus of congressional oversight, with Democratic minority members seeking disclosure of political appointment counts by agency
• The Plum Book for the 118th Congress (covering the Biden administration's final year) was published in January 2025; the 119th Congress Plum Book covering Trump-era positions will be published in 2029