ISTANBUL

US President Donald Trump on Friday announced plans to reclassify tens of thousands of federal workers as "at-will" employees under a new category, Schedule Policy/Career, that would allow agencies to fire civil servants who don’t align with his policy agenda.

"Following my Day One Executive Order, the Office of Personnel Management will be issuing new Civil Service Regulations for career government employees," Trump posted on Truth Social.

"Career government employees, working on policy matters, will be classified as ‘Schedule Policy/Career,’ and will be held to the highest standards of conduct and performance."

The move revives and expands Trump’s previous "Schedule F" initiative, aiming to strip civil service protections from policy-related roles.

A White House memo said the change would affect roughly 50,000 workers, or 2% of the federal workforce, and overturn Biden-era protections.

The new rule would allow agencies to dismiss employees "without access to cumbersome adverse action procedures or appeals," targeting those with "policy-determining, policy-making, policy-advocating, or confidential duties."

"If these government workers refuse to advance the policy interests of the President, or are engaging in corrupt behavior, they should no longer have a job. This is common sense, and will allow the federal government to finally be ‘run like a business’," Trump said.

While the policy won’t take effect immediately, the administration said the reclassification will require a follow-up executive order. Employees would not need to personally support the president, but "must faithfully implement the law and the administration’s policies," according to the White House fact sheet.