Biden Rescinds Schedule F, Workforce Executive Orders from Trump Administration
President Biden rescinded several executive orders imposed by President Trump within his first few days in office. Among the rescinded orders is one signed on October 21, 2020 that created a new “Schedule F” class of federal employees.
The original executive order imposed by the Trump administration stated, “Appointments of individuals to positions of a confidential, policy-determining, policy-making, or policy-advocating character that are not normally subject to change as a result of a Presidential transition shall be made under Schedule F of the excepted service.” Agencies were asked to identify Schedule F employees, who would lose all of their civil service protections and could be fired without cause.
President Biden revoked the EO establishing Schedule F with a new EO that strives to protect the integrity of the federal workforce. The EO states, “Creating Schedule F in the Excepted Service not only was unnecessary to the conditions of good administration, but also undermined the foundations of the civil service and its merit system principles…to enhance the efficiency of the civil service and to promote good administration and systematic application of merit system principles, Executive Order 13957 is hereby revoked.”
Furthermore, Biden’s EO instructs agencies to restore collective bargaining and pay federal employees and contractors at least $15 an hour. One of the EOs that was repealed is Executive Order 13836 on Developing Efficient, Effective and Cost-Reducing Approaches to Federal Sector Collective Bargaining. It set limits on federal employees and their efforts to organize and bargain effectively. Specifically, it set limits on the time needed to negotiate ground rules and contracts, and it placed blame on unions for any delays.
Rep. Derek Kilmer (D-WA) said of the Biden administration, “Federal workers are public servants – they go to work every day dedicated to serving their country and helping their fellow Americans. They deserve our support. I’m thrilled that President Biden has taken quick and immediate action in his first days in office to support federal workers. I’ve been working for months to try to block these actions, and I’m glad to have the partnership of a new Administration that is committed to ensure that these workers are treated fairly and justly.”
Other members of Congress are also pleased with the new EO. House Oversight and Reform Committee Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) said, “We look forward to partnering with the new administration to ensure that collective bargaining, whistleblower protection and merit principles remain a foundation of the federal civil service.”
There was, however, some pushback from Republicans on the committee, including Rep. Jody Hice (R-GA), who accused federal employees of being part of a “liberal bureaucracy.”
Bob Corsi, Interim President of the Senior Executives Association (SEA), spoke highly of Biden’s EO and said, “Government leadership sets the tone for all civil servants and President Biden is setting the correct tone. We commend this action and the message it sends to our federal workforce that they serve the American people and not a political party.”
