HHS Begins Reclassifying Senior Positions Under Schedule Policy/Career

In a memo obtained by Federal News Network, Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Chief Capital officer Thomas J. Nagy, Jr. told supervisors the department had identified an "initial tranche" of several hundred GS-15 positions for conversion to Schedule Policy/Career, with more tranches to follow. HHS asked affected employees to sign forms acknowledging their move into the excepted service and at-will status. The reclassifications implement the Office of Personnel Management's February 2026 final rule under Executive Order 14,171. HHS ranks among the top agencies government wide with reclassified positions and the Centers for Disease Control and  Prevention alone had 94 positions converted.