Trump Administration Plans to Reclassify Thousands of Federal Workers, Easing Process for Dismissals

WASHINGTON, April 19 — U.S. President Donald Trump announced yesterday that his administration will move to reclassify tens of thousands of federal workers — a move that governance experts warn could pave the way for widespread layoffs.

In a post on social media, Trump said that moving forward, career government employees involved in policy matters will be reclassified under a new category called “schedule policy/career.”

According to Trump, the change is aimed at ensuring the federal government is “run like a business.”

The announcement enacts an executive order Trump signed on his first day back in office on January 20. It is expected to strip many of the 2.3 million federal workers of long-standing job protections by designating them as at-will employees.

Don Moynihan, a professor at the University of Michigan’s Ford School of Public Policy, noted that by classifying nearly all employees who work on policy matters under this new category, the administration significantly expands the number of workers who could be fired.

Trump previously issued a similar directive during the final months of his first term, known as Schedule F, which was later rescinded by President Joe Biden on his first day in office in 2021. At the time, it was estimated that at least 50,000 federal employees could be affected.

Moynihan said the new order is even broader, potentially impacting hundreds of thousands of employees.

Since Trump’s return to office, more than 260,000 federal workers have either been dismissed, accepted buyouts, opted for early retirement, or are scheduled for termination, according to a Reuters tally.

The reclassification effort comes alongside a broader push by Trump and Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency to reduce the size and cost of the federal workforce, citing issues of waste and inefficiency.

Everett Kelley, president of the American Federation of Government Employees — the largest federal workers’ union representing 800,000 members — condemned the move, warning it would politicize federal employment and erode the merit-based civil service system.

“President Trump’s action to politicize the work of tens of thousands of career federal employees will erode the government’s merit-based hiring system and undermine the professional civil service that Americans rely on,” said Kelley.

Matt Biggs, president of the International Federation of Professional & Technical Engineers, representing 90,000 workers, also criticized the move, stating it would make federal workers “essentially at-will employees” and pledged that his union would fight back. — Reuters