White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told federal workers that if they don’t like President Trump’s agenda, they should find another job.
When questioned by reporters about why the president reclassified federal workers as Schedule Policy/Career and if their jobs were now in jeopardy, Ms. Leavitt said the move was to “ensure that federal workers are being held accountable for corrupt behavior.”
She said it will “make it easier to get rid of rogue bureaucrats who are engaging in corruption.”
The reclassification stripped some employees of civil service protections that have long made it nearly impossible to fire federal workers.
“If they are engaging in corruption, as a government worker, they should no longer have their job. I think that’s pretty common sense,” Ms. Leavitt said at the White House press briefing Tuesday.
“If you work for the government, you should be adhering to the will of the American public and advancing the administration’s goals and interests,” she said. “And if you are not doing that, then you should go find another job whose interests you align with.”
Mr. Trump created a new federal employee category on Friday. The White House said it would “enhance accountability.”
A White House fact sheet said the rule will empower federal agencies to “swiftly remove employees in policy-influencing roles for poor performance, misconduct, corruption or subversion of Presidential directives without lengthy procedural hurdles.”
The rule, formerly referred to as Schedule F, exempts certain government positions from employment protections. It will affect about 50,000 positions, including those “with important policy-determining, policy-making, policy-advocating, or confidential duties.”
Mr. Trump, on his first day in office, also reclassified other civil servants to make it easier to fire workers who are not performing up to par.
“Following my Day One Executive Order, the Office of Personnel Management will be issuing new Civil Service Regulations for career government employees,” Mr. Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Moving forward, career government employees, working on policy matters, will be classified as ’Schedule Policy/Career,’ and will be held to the highest standards of conduct and performance. If these government workers refuse to advance the policy interests of the president, or are engaging in corrupt behavior, they should no longer have a job.”
