{"id":26392,"date":"2023-06-30T15:00:34","date_gmt":"2023-06-30T15:00:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/uncategorized\/2023\/06\/30\/schedule-f-is-about-accountability-not-spoils-system-ex-officials-say\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T05:03:43","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T05:03:43","slug":"schedule-f-is-about-accountability-not-spoils-system-ex-officials-say","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/management\/career-management\/2023\/06\/30\/schedule-f-is-about-accountability-not-spoils-system-ex-officials-say\/","title":{"rendered":"Schedule F is about accountability, not spoils system, ex-officials say"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Senior federal officials from the Trump administration said Schedule F, the dormant policy to make thousands of federal employees at-will, is a solution to lacking accountability, not a reversion to the spoils system, as <\/a>its critics have said. <\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Relying on data from a governmentwide annual survey, the officials who defended the policy said the government\u2019s own workers have identified inadequate processes to deal with poor performers. Schedule F<\/a> would restore that, they said in a panel<\/a> discussion hosted by the National Academy of Public Administration on Thursday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Schedule F would have moved employees in policymaking or confidential positions into appointed positions, meaning there would be fewer barriers to firing them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is really just an attempt to address one of the chief concerns that federal employees themselves have articulated year after year in [the survey], and that\u2019s the question that says: in my work unit, steps are taken to deal with a poor performer who cannot, or will not, improve,\u201d said Michael Rigas, the acting director of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management during the Trump administration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2016, 29% percent answered in the affirmative. That number has grown to 42% in 2022, according to the latest version of the survey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Schedule F never went into effect, though some agencies went as far as identifying which positions <\/a>would be eligible for reclassification. The move faced fierce opposition from Democrats<\/a> and federal employee unions, who said having a class of employees with limited employment protections raised due process concerns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, as several Republican<\/a> candidates for the presidency<\/a> have said they support Schedule F or something like it, the question posed to panelists was whether that\u2019s the right approach, and if it is, what might it look like in 2024 and beyond.<\/p>\n\n\n\t