Congress moves to block mass reclassification of federal workers into political positions

What it does

This bill prohibits the federal government from creating a new 'Schedule F' category of civil service jobs that would allow political appointees to bypass competitive hiring and job protections. It locks civil service rules to their September 30, 2020 state, caps the number of competitive-service jobs that can be converted to excepted (non-competitive) positions to 1% per agency per presidential term, requires employee consent before moving anyone from competitive to excepted service, and mandates Office of Personnel Management approval for transfers into Schedule C (political appointee positions). The bill protects career civil servants from being reclassified into politically vulnerable roles without their agreement.

Why we flagged it

The bill's operative mechanism is a direct prohibition on Schedule F and a restoration of pre-2020 civil service rules. It is a defensive legislative response to an executive action (the Trump administration's Schedule F order), not a new policy initiative. The character is protective, not punitive or redistributive.

What the text implies

• The bill freezes civil service rules to Sept. 30, 2020 state, which means any regulatory updates or modernizations to federal hiring rules issued between Oct. 1, 2020 and the bill's enactment are effectively repealed for purposes of this statute.
• The 1% annual cap on competitive-to-excepted conversions may create a bottleneck for legitimate agency restructuring or workforce modernization that does not involve political reclassification.
• The employee-consent requirement for transfers into Schedule C (political positions) may inadvertently protect some employees from lateral moves they would otherwise accept, by requiring explicit written consent rather than relying on standard employment agreements.

Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.

Who it affects

Career civil servants gain explicit protection against involuntary reclassification into politically vulnerable positions, and the public gains assurance that federal agencies will continue to hire and retain employees based on merit and competitive process rather than political loyalty. The 1% cap and consent requirements restore the pre-2020 civil service model that insulated government from partisan purges.

Named in the bill

Office of Personnel Management (OPM), Schedule A–E (excepted service categories), Schedule C (political appointee positions), Schedule F (prohibited new category), Competitive service, Excepted service, Federal agencies, Title 5 Code of Federal Regulations, Chapter 73 and 74 of Title 38 (Veterans Affairs)

Where it stands

111 cosponsors: 107 Democrats, 4 Republicans.

• Jan 16, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
• Jan 16, 2025 — Referred to House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform”

Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.

Money around this bill

5 lobbying clients named this bill on 9 disclosure filings across 3 quarters, Dec 2025 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $266,100 in lobbying spend. A filing names 11 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.

More lobbying clients named this bill than 78% of bills with at least one filing.

Gerald Connolly, the sponsor, reported $160,000 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.

• American Foreign Service Association — $200,000 on 2 filings
• National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association — $40,000 on 1 filing
• National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association — $26,100 on 2 filings
• Department for Professional Employees AFL-CIO — $0 on 2 filings
• Federal Managers Association — $0 on 2 filings

Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 20, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.