Trump Revives Push To Make Federal Workers At-Will: 'One Misstep And You Could Be Gone,' Warns SSA Veteran

The President Donald Trump administration has revived efforts to reclassify federal employees as at-will workers, stripping job protections that career civil servants currently enjoy. The proposed Office of Personnel Management rule would make government workers easier to fire, similar to Corporate America standards.

What Happened: Current federal employment rules protect career civil servants from political termination and require justifiable cause for dismissal, the Business Insider reported. Trump’s executive order would reclassify these workers as policy-determining employees, allowing termination for any legal reason with minimal notice.

“This will allow agencies to quickly remove employees from critical positions who engage in misconduct, perform poorly, or undermine the democratic process,” states the proposed OPM rule, according to Business Insider. The measure was introduced during Trump’s first term then revived through executive order.

The rule garnered over 16,000 public comments, with the comment period extended until June 7. Webb Lyons, former OPM general counsel, noted a Biden-era civil service rule received just 4,000 comments.

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Why It Matters: The Social Security Administration presents the clearest impact example. A mid-April memo outlined plans to reclassify approximately 10,000 SSA positions under “Schedule Policy/Career” designation, affecting workers evaluating disability benefits and maintaining IT systems.

One 30-year SSA veteran told Business Insider: “Since you are a political appointee, you could also just be let go with little or no protection. So one misstep and you could be gone.”

The initiative follows broader restructuring efforts. U.S. District Judge Susan Illston blocked mass federal layoffs in May, affecting Agriculture, Health and Human Services, Treasury, and Veterans Affairs. Approximately 260,000 federal workers will leave by September’s end.

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Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.

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