Federal Register, Restoring Accountability to Policy-Influencing Positions Within the Federal Workforce, Executive Order 14171, January 20, 2025
Reinstatement of the Schedule F employment designation, which makes certain jobs with an impact on policy exempt from the merit system principles of hiring or firing. Increases Executive Branch's flexibility in managing employees. Turnover and changes in federal workforce composition affect the expectations, timing, relationships, and project outcomes for government contractors.
From the Order:
Section 1. Purpose. Article II of the United States Constitution vests the President with the sole and exclusive authority over the executive branch, including the authority to manage the Federal workforce to ensure effective execution of Federal law. A critical aspect of this executive function is the responsibility to maintain professionalism and accountability within the civil service. This accountability is sorely lacking today. Only 41 percent of civil service supervisors are confident that they can remove an employee who engaged in insubordination or serious misconduct. Even fewer supervisors—26 percent—are confident that they can remove an employee for poor performance.
Accountability is essential for all Federal employees, but it is especially important for those who are in policy-influencing positions. These personnel are entrusted to shape and implement actions that have a significant impact on all Americans. Any power they have is delegated by the President, and they must be accountable to the President, who is the only member of the executive branch, other than the Vice President, elected and directly accountable to the American people. In recent years, however, there have been numerous and well-documented cases of career Federal employees resisting and undermining the policies and directives of their executive leadership. Principles of good administration, therefore, necessitate action to restore accountability to the career civil service, beginning with positions of a confidential, policy-determining, policy-making, or policy-advocating character.