Federal employees reclassified to make it easier to terminate

Implementation of “Schedule Policy/Career” (formerly Schedule F) is reclassifying thousands of federal roles and removing traditional civil service protections. Recent actions have shifted roughly 8,000 positions into the new category, making them effectively at‑will and potentially more exposed to political direction. Office of Personnel Management guidance specifies that employees with “substantive participation and discretionary authority in agency grantmaking” should be included in this category—highlighting potential effects for research agencies where grantmaking functions are central. Experts point to possible impacts on peer review, funding decisions, and scientific independence across agencies including NIH, CDC, and FDA. This is yet another stress on the already stressed and overburdened federal research administration infrastructure.

Resources: White House executive order | OPM guidance on Schedule Policy/Career  | Federal Employee Schedule F | Stripping service protections