In 2021, career federal staff generally could not be fired by the President or Congress
Documented · occurred Handling: removal protections for policy-role staff are being narrowed via Schedule F / Policy-Career reclassification since 2025 What these labels mean →McAfee said career agency staff cannot be fired by elected officials. Since the Pendleton Act (1883) most federal jobs have been merit-based with removal protections; this was true in 2021. Since 2025 those protections have narrowed for policy roles: EO 14171 (20 January 2025) reinstated the Schedule F order (EO 13957); OPM proposed rules in April 2025 and issued a final rule (published 6 February 2026, effective 9 March 2026) placing about 50,000 positions, about 2 percent of executive-branch employment, into Schedule Policy/Career, outside the usual adverse-action procedures. Agency heads and commissioners, who are appointed, are removable.
Evidence
| Relation | Record | Note |
|---|---|---|
| documents | federalregister.gov | OPM proposed rule, 90 FR (23 Apr 2025), Docket OPM-2025-0004: Pendleton Act of 1883 background; EO 13957 (21 Oct 2020) created Schedule F; EO 14171 signed on the first day of the second term; 'approximately 50,000 positions would be moved or transferred into Schedule Policy/Career, about two percent'. |
| documents | federalregister.gov | OPM final rule, 6 Feb 2026, 'DATES: Effective March 9, 2026': 'approximately 50,000 positions governmentwide will be placed into Schedule Policy/Career. This represents about 2 percent of the entire executive branch employment total'; 'issuing E.O. 14171 on January 20, 2025. The new order reinstated' EO 13957. |
| documents | congress.gov | CRS on Schedule Policy/Career |
| corroborates | npr.org | NPR Apr 2025 |
Sources
| Source | Relation | At |
|---|---|---|
| McAfee on the deep state (2021 clip) | reports |
Claim
McAfee said career agency staff cannot be fired by elected officials. Since the Pendleton Act (1883) most federal jobs have been merit-based with removal protections; this was true in 2021. Since 2025 those protections have narrowed for policy roles: EO 14171 (20 January 2025) reinstated the Schedule F order (EO 13957); OPM proposed rules in April 2025 and issued a final rule (published 6 February 2026, effective 9 March 2026) placing about 50,000 positions, about 2 percent of executive-branch employment, into Schedule Policy/Career, outside the usual adverse-action procedures. Agency heads and commissioners, who are appointed, are removable.