SUMMARY:  Legislation is introduced in the House and Senate to prevent a future Schedule F. 

Today, legislation endorsed by NTEU, the Saving the Civil Service Act was introduced in the House and Senate by Representatives Gerry Connolly (D-VA) and Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) and Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA).  This bill would prevent the president from implementing a policy similar to the Schedule F Executive Order (EO) issued during the last administration. 

As you may recall, the October 2020 EO established a new category of excepted service employees, known as Schedule F, which, if fully implemented, could have affected tens of thousands of non-political career federal employees, stripping them of their civil service protections and allowing them to be hired and fired at will.  The bill aims to prevent future attempts to undermine the civil service in this way by placing strict limits on transferring any position in the competitive service to the excepted service and limiting those transfers to the five schedules in effect on September 30, 2020, before the Schedule F EO was issued. 

               Given the growing support for Schedule F and reported plans by some possible presidential candidates to implement such a scheme if elected, it is critical that Congress act to prevent the risk of Schedule F returning, which would not only subject dedicated civil servants to partisan whims, but also adversely affect agency missions and the fair and impartial delivery of government services Americans rely on. 

               Rest assured that NTEU will continue to fight against Schedule F and similar schemes to undermine employee collective bargaining and due process rights.   For more information click here.