OPM’s Final “Schedule Policy/Career” Rule is Published 

On February 6, 2026, the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) finalized its rule, Improving Performance, Accountability, and Responsiveness in the Civil Service, aka the “Schedule Policy/Career” rule, for federal employees in policy-influencing positions. Roles under this designation will be merit-based but at will and filled by presidential administrations instead of through the civil service system so that agencies can act quickly when serious performance or conduct failures arise. The rule takes effect March 9, 2026.  

Americans for Prosperity (AFP) supports this reform because a limited federal government must also be accountable to administrations and the American public. When career staff in high impact policy roles cannot be effectively managed or removed for serious misconduct including subordination or underperformance, agencies become less effective and responsive. This rule ensures greater accountability in key governmental roles, which allows presidential administrations to operate their visions under the watch of both the Supreme Court and Congress instead of being hindered by employees that can act as an administrative state equating to a “Fourth Branch” of government.  

What the final rule does 

• Creates Schedule Policy/Career within the excepted service for career positions of a confidential or policy influencing character, while clarifying that Schedule C remains solely for noncareer political appointments. OPM has estimated around 50,000 positions may be impacted, a small portion of the overall federal workforce.  
• Preserves competitive hiring and status: moving a position into Schedule Policy/Career doesn’t convert it into a political appointment; affected employees may retain competitive status and serve across administrations.  
• Streamlines accountability by excluding these roles from Merit System Protection Board (MSPB) procedures and appeals including chapters 43 and 75, enabling timely action on poor performance, misconduct, or willful subversion of presidential directives.  
• Requires agency safeguards and implementation policies, with OPM issuing templates and guidance on prohibited personnel practices, notices, and grievance processes to ensure responsible application of the rule.  

How AFPF’s public comment shows up in the final rule 

In June 2025, Americans for Prosperity Foundation (AFPF) submitted a public comment supporting the proposal on constitutional and governance grounds, arguing among other things that “the proposed changes are a correct exercise of the unified executive authority that the Constitution grants to the president. The rule changes will properly limit privileges that should never have been granted to an extraconstitutional “Fourth Branch” of government and help locate accountability and oversight of the federal workforce in its proper place.”  

AFPF’s perspective is echoed in the final rule in a number of ways: 

• Unified executive accountability: The rule is framed as strengthening accountability and democratic responsiveness—echoing AFPF’s argument that policy execution must ultimately answer to the voters’ chosen executive.  
• Merit-based, nonpartisan hiring remains intact: OPM repeatedly affirms that Schedule Policy/Career positions are career jobs filled through merit systems—a factor AFPF emphasized as within the administration’s authority.  
• Narrow, role-based targeting: The rule draws a line between Schedule Policy/Career (career, policy-influencing) and Schedule C (noncareer political), aligning with AFPF’s view that such an approach is well within legal boundaries of what an administration should be able to do in terms of filling agency positions.   
• Operational fixes to longstanding barriers: OPM’s justification responds to widely documented difficulties in disciplining poor performance in sensitive roles—concerns AFP and AFPF have highlighted as undermining effective governance.

Sources of Note 

• Final Rule: Improving Performance, Accountability, and Responsiveness in the Civil Service (91 Fed. Reg. 5580; Feb. 6, 2026). [federalregister.gov], [govinfo.gov] 
• AFPF Public Comment (June 6, 2025): https://americansforprosperity.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/2025.06.06-AFPF-Reg-Comment-re-OPM-Rulemaking-Final.pdf 
• AFP summary post of proposed rule: https://americansforprosperity.org/policy-corner/afpf-submits-public-comment-in-support-of-trump-administration-schedule-policy-career-rule/ 
• See also: Trump Administration Brings Changes to the Federal Hiring System – A Brief Look at President Trump’s Schedule F (Policy/Career) Policy and Civil Service Reform  

Austen Bannan is an Employment Policy Fellow at Americans for Prosperity.