Democrats demand transparency from White House on Schedule Policy/Career

Dozens of House and Senate Democrats are demanding answers from the Trump administration on its implementation of Schedule Policy/Career — a move that’s already affecting thousands of career federal employees and may be poised for expansion.

A letter sent to the White House on Wednesday, obtained exclusively by Federal News Network, called for details about exactly how many positions were reclassified last month, and whether the administration plans to add to the list of those stripped of their civil service protections.

Lawmakers argued that the White House has not provided enough information on who has been affected and why, compounding their concerns about Schedule Policy/Career. Signed by 53 Democrats, the letter launches an inquiry into the reach and impact of the new employment classification, while warning that the policy will politicize and undermine the federal workforce.

“We are concerned that the thousands of positions and federal employees who were reclassified through Schedule Policy/Career will face political pressures that undermine the integrity of their critical work and be subjected to greater threats of termination without just cause or due process,” the Democrats wrote in the letter, led by Rep. James Walkinshaw (D-Va.) and Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.).

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“All of this will greatly weaken the nonpartisan nature of the civil service,” they said.

The White House is facing a July 31 deadline to respond to the congressional demands. The White House and the Office of Personnel Management did not immediately respond to Federal News Network’s requests for comment.

The letter seeks agency and component-level details on how many employees were reclassified and the decision-making process for determining which positions are “confidential, policy-determining, policy-making or policy-advocating.” It also calls for information from the White House on whether any initially recommended positions were later removed from the list, as well as the total cost of the reclassifications.

Democrats further requested a breakdown of the reclassifications across demographics like race, gender and disability status, and how many employees with veterans’ preference or in bargaining units were stripped of their protections.

“Schedule P/C threatens nearly 150 years of merit-based civil service protections by making it easier to fire dedicated public servants for political reasons,” Walkinshaw said in a statement Wednesday. “Congress and the American people deserve answers about how many employees have been affected, how these decisions were made and what this means for the government’s ability to serve the public.”

The new inquiry comes after President Donald Trump finalized Schedule Policy/Career last month, making nearly 8,000 career federal employees at-will and easier to fire. Trump administration officials have said there are “zero loyalty tests” in the new employment classification — it’s meant to boost accountability and make it easier for agencies to remove “policy-influencing” federal employees who are not carrying out lawful orders from the president.

In June, the White House published a 229-page appendix listing the agencies, position titles and corresponding position description codes that were transferred to Schedule Policy/Career. But the appendix does not include information on the exact number of affected positions, their seniority levels and more.

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Democrats wrote that the White House’s list leaves “the public and Congress without a clear understanding of the exact extent to which the federal workforce is being politicized.”

“This policy change opens the door for corruption and inefficiency in government, the likes of which we have not seen since before passage of the Pendleton Act,” the letter reads. “When the people tasked with carrying out the law can be fired for telling the truth, waste goes unreported, bad actors go unchecked, it’s the American people who will suffer as a result.”

The roughly 8,000-position estimate is far lower than the Trump administration’s original estimate that about 50,000 positions would be reclassified. OPM Director Scott Kupor said he expects the Schedule Policy/Career list will eventually expand to cover more positions, according to reporting last week from Bloomberg Law, although the timing and numbers for that expansion remain unclear.

Some critics have also questioned how the roles targeted for Schedule Policy/Career were determined in the first place. In their letter, Democrats asked about the inclusion of positions that “do completely apolitical work.” They cited, for example, reclassified scientific, health and technical research positions at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. They also want to know the Trump administration’s rationale for converting positions at independent agencies like the Merit Systems Protection Board.

Lawmakers further called for the White House to answer how it believes Schedule Policy/Career will impact federal workforce recruitment, retention and morale. In recent weeks, some reclassified employees have expressed growing fears about job security and retribution from their agencies, as well as the potential for declining expertise and increasing politicization across the federal workforce.

“Our career civil servants keep our government running,” Kaine said in a statement. “Federal employees deserve the freedom to do their jobs professionally and without fear of political retaliation.”

The letter comes as several lawsuits against Schedule Policy/Career remain pending, alleging that the new employment classification violates the Civil Service Reform Act, due process rights and several other federal laws.

With pending litigation, the lawmakers asked the White House to confirm whether it would pause any firings or other adverse actions if a court finds Schedule Policy/Career unlawful.

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If you would like to contact this reporter about recent changes in the federal government, please email drew.friedman@federalnewsnetwork.com or reach out on Signal at drewfriedman.11

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