# Understanding the Saving the Civil Service Act

This bill is designed to protect federal government jobs from being reclassified in ways that could make them easier to fire. Here's what's actually happening: the federal government has different categories of jobs. Some jobs are in the "competitive service," which means people have to go through a competitive hiring process and have strong job protections. Other jobs are in the "excepted service," which has fewer protections and makes it easier for agencies to fire people without going through formal procedures. This bill prevents agencies from moving jobs from the competitive service into the excepted service without strict limitations.

The core restriction is that agencies can only move a very small number of competitive service jobs into the excepted service—no more than one percent of their total workforce per four-year presidential term, or five employees, whichever is larger. So a small agency with 200 employees could only move two jobs, while a larger agency with 10,000 employees could move 100. The bill also requires that any employee whose job gets reclassified must agree to it in writing. Additionally, if an agency wants to move an occupied position into a special category called "Schedule C" (which is typically reserved for political appointees), they need approval from the Office of Personnel Management first.

The bill specifically blocks the creation of something called "Schedule F," which was proposed as a new category that would have made it much easier to fire federal workers. For federal employees, this means greater job security and protection against sudden terminations. For the public, it means federal agencies would likely maintain more experienced, stable workforces rather than potentially losing institutional knowledge through mass firings. The bill essentially freezes the rules around federal job classifications at what they were in September 2020, preventing major changes to how federal workers are protected.

Saving the Civil Service Act

Connolly, Gerald E.

Saving the Civil Service Act This bill generally prohibits changes to the classification of positions in the competitive service and excepted service unless certain conditions are met. (Competitive service positions are subject to competitive examination; excepted service positions are not subject to competitive examination and are instead subject to the specific requirements applicable to the schedule in which they are placed, which depends on the nature of the position.) Specifically, the bill prohibits executive agency positions in the competitive service from being placed in the excepted service, unless such positions are placed in the excepted service as in effect on September 30, 2020. The bill also prohibits positions in the excepted service from being placed in any schedule other than the aforementioned schedules. Additionally, agencies may not (1) transfer occupied positions from the competitive or excepted service into Schedule C without the consent of the Office of Personnel Management, or (2) transfer employees in the excepted service to another schedule or transfer employees in the competitive service to the excepted service without employee consent. On October 21, 2020, former President Donald Trump issued an executive order that placed executive agency positions that are of a confidential, policy-determining, policy-making, or policy-advocating character, and that are not normally subject to change as a result of a presidential transition, under a new schedule in the excepted service (Schedule F) instead of the competitive service. The order also required any such positions in the excepted service to be reclassified to Schedule F. The order was subsequently revoked by President Joe Biden.