EO 14,171: Restoring Accountability to Policy-Influencing Positions Within the Federal Workforce

This Executive Order (EO) directed the creation of Schedule Policy/Career, a new category of federal employment. The EO directs that Schedule Policy/Career employees would not have traditional civil service protections such as for-cause termination protection, Merit Systems Protection Board appeal rights, or protections against statutory prohibited personnel practices (PPPs), including whistleblower protections. The new category would apply to what the government defines as "confidential, policy-determining, policy-making or policy-advocating" positions. This EO ordered the Office of Personnel Management to issue regulations implementing Schedule Policy/Career, and it ordered federal agencies to recommend positions for the president to move into this new category. The EO also rescinded EO 14,003, which the Biden administration had issued to rescind President Trump's original 2020 EO, EO 13,957, creating Schedule F — a similar category to Schedule Policy/Career.