Partnership for Public Service statement on proposed Schedule Policy/Career rule

June 6, 2025

WASHINGTON – Today, the nonpartisan, nonprofit Partnership for Public Service submitted public comments on the Office of Personnel Management’s proposed rule establishing a Schedule Policy/Career designation in the federal workforce, which would remove due process for designated employees, meaning that these employees lose any appeal rights to challenge a firing or other adverse action taken against them. 

Max Stier, the Partnership’s president and CEO, released the following statement to accompany the comments: 

“A merit-based, nonpartisan civil service is a bedrock principle of our country and our democracy. The proposed Schedule Policy/Career designation, which will impact tens of thousands of federal employees, is a direct threat to that principle.  

“Establishing a Schedule Policy/Career will only accelerate the current pattern of politicizing the federal workforce and will send us back to the failed spoils systems of the 1800s. Greater politicization will result in a less capable government, worse outcomes for the public, increased corruption and further eroded public trust. 

“This proposed rule comes alongside a series of troubling memos from the Office of Personnel Management in recent weeks that seek to place political loyalty ahead of merit in hiring and further politicize the federal workforce. 

“The federal talent management system is in serious need of reform and modernization. But the proposed Schedule Policy/Career designation does nothing to address the real challenges around hiring and accountability, and would succeed only in creating a more political, less effective government.” 

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