Schedule C Terms of Employment Flexibilities

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) issued this memorandum to assert to "reaffirm[] flexibilities" in setting Schedule C terms of employment. Generally, Schedule C employees are political appointees hired outside of the ordinary competitive process for civil servants. The memorandum states that agency heads have "broad discretion" to set the pay and terms of employment for Schedule C political appointees. It instructs: "Agencies should review and, where appropriate, revoke delegations and sub-delegations provided to agency Human Resources (HR) offices for setting the terms for Schedule C appointment, including initial salary." In so doing, the memorandum transfers power over the terms of Schedule C hiring (including pay) from HR professionals — who are ordinarily career individuals — to the political leadership of each agency. 

Quoting an earlier memorandum OPM had issued on January 20, this memorandum explained: "Such flexibility is important to attract highly-qualified Schedule C employees to serve in important confidential, policy-determining, policy-making and policy-advocating roles. Well-qualified Schedule C employees are needed 'to drive the unusually expansive and transformative agenda the American people elected President Trump to accomplish.'" Though it acknowledges that Schedule C employees are subject to a generally-applicable pay cap, the memorandum seems to suggest that these individuals should be paid more than they might have been in the past.