The Trump Administration has issued a proposed regulation that would make it far easier to fire federal employees: Schedule P/C (formerly known as Schedule F). If allowed to take effect, Schedule P/C could result in hundreds of thousands of career civil servants being replaced by Trump loyalists.
This would make it easier to purge the government of the people and services that hold corporations accountable, protect labor rights, ensure clean air and water, provide healthcare and Social Security benefits, and enforce the safety regulations that improve the lives of Americans.
The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is required to solicit and review comments on the proposed regulation. If OPM fails to review comments, or fails to reply to substantial comments, courts will strike Schedule P/C down.
Submit your comments before the extended deadline on Friday, June 7.
Arguments you can make: These are some examples to get you started; it is not a comprehensive list. Pick a few that are the most important to you to write on – you do not need to write on everything below. Start with your personal narrative. If you want to add more, you can include some high-level impacts (below). If you have expertise or experience in other technical areas, you can include those arguments as well. The most important thing is making your comment unique.
Personal narrative:
- Federal employees: Describe the impact of this proposed rule on your job.
- Looking back: Did civil service job protections and stability influence your decision to choose a federal job over the private sector? How would this policy have impacted your work if it was in place in prior administrations? Have you ever had to challenge leadership over a legal requirement, a required process, or a misunderstanding of facts and data? Have you had other reasons you needed your existing civil service protections?
- Looking forward: How could it impact your job going forward? How might this change management’s openness to hearing differing perspectives and evidence? Would these changes make you fear providing your best judgment and feedback to leadership?
- Impacts on the product or services for Americans: Would it change the quality of your work? Would this change the pace or efficiency of how work gets done?
- General public: Describe how partisan civil service would impact your lives.
- What public services (e.g., Social Security, healthcare, education, clean water, energy) do you and your family rely on that would be impacted if the President can fire federal employees at will? How would you be affected if experienced employees are discouraged from presenting balanced viewpoints or are fired every few years? How would you be impacted if critical government systems were maintained by people without the necessary experience?
View the full Sch. P/C Toolkit here: Public Comment Toolkit