President Trump has just been sworn in, but his administration has already taken steps to promote a robust and efficient administrative state. By implementing four executive orders aimed at expanding the scope of Schedule F and reforming the federal hiring system, Trump can expediently implement the Department of Government Efficiency’s rulemaking and budget recommendations.
The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is a temporary advisory committee tasked with implementing Trump’s “18-month DOGE agenda” of maximizing efficiency and productivity in the federal government. Because DOGE cannot execute its efficiency agenda, the president is responsible for implementing DOGE’s recommendations. DOGE will likely recommend numerous administrative rule changes and budget cuts to reduce the federal bureaucracy’s size, which means that Trump needs bureaucrats who will faithfully implement the recommendations and leeway to fire those who try to stall the department’s progress or who DOGE’s report finds are wasteful. President Trump set himself up to enforce DOGE’s recommendations by enacting four executive orders.
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The first executive order is a hiring freeze on executive branch employees until the Office of Management and Budget develops a plan to reduce the size of the federal workforce. This is sound policy as the administration needs to determine what positions benefit the American people and which positions are wasteful, inefficient, and needlessly cost taxpayers money.
Furthermore, the administration needs to implement a new hiring process for federal bureaucrats. Former President Biden’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives fostered a federal bureaucracy devoted to serving woke ideology instead of the public. Trump issued an order implementing reforms for the hiring process that prioritize hiring highly skilled individuals who are “committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government, passionate about the ideals of our American republic, and committed to upholding the rule of law and the United States Constitution.”
This executive order also ends DEI hiring and is intended to lower hiring times across the executive branch. These two executive orders overhaul the hiring process for civil servants, which should result in skilled bureaucrats who will faithfully execute DOGE’s recommendations. In turn, this order will make the federal bureaucracy more efficient and responsive for the American people.
Trump doesn’t just need competent bureaucrats to enact DOGE’s recommendations – he also needs leeway to remove inefficient employees and career civil servants who may work to slow down the implementation of DOGE. Beyond federal employee hiring, he enacted two executive orders enhancing his removal power over the civil service.
First, Trump signed an order resuscitating and expanding the scope of Schedule F. In his first administration, Schedule F was a job classification that removed civil service protections from policy-making positions within the executive department and allowed for streamlined hiring and firing of those positions. Biden never implemented Schedule F, instead repealing Trump’s executive order that implemented the Schedule. Trump revived Schedule F on his first day, so it should be fully implemented by the time DOGE releases initial recommendations.
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Moreover, Trump expanded Schedule F’s scope to include all “policy/career” positions, allowing DOGE to fully examine the civil service. The order also requires all bureaucrats to implement the administration’s policies faithfully, deeming it a fireable offense if they refuse.
In addition to this order, Trump signed a second order eliminating removal protections for Career Senior Executive Service (SES) officials and requiring them to adopt performance plans. SES officials oversee vast bureaucracies in 75 federal agencies responsible for making rules that impact millions of Americans. Previously, they were not subject to at-will removal from the president and could only be fired with cause. The president’s executive order removes these protections and subjects SES officials to the same removal requirements lesser bureaucrats are subject to – increasing presidential control over the civil service.
These changes are a lawful exercise of executive power and will allow quick implementation of DOGE’s recommendations. The U.S. Constitution solely vests the president with the executive power – meaning all bureaucrats subject to these executive orders exercise power at the president’s behest. Further, the Supreme Court approved this level of executive control in Myers v. U.S. and Humphrey’s Executor v. U.S., where they held that purely executive officers are subject to presidential removal without good cause. Therefore, courts will likely uphold Schedule F’s revival, increasing executive power over removal.
Schedule F and SES reform will allow Trump to enact DOGE’s policies in two ways. First, his orders allow him to fire bureaucrats which DOGE and department heads deem wasteful or inefficient. Second, these reforms empower Trump and his surrogates to remove civil servants from top to bottom who are intentionally stalling DOGE’s implementation.
These executive orders are essential to DOGE’s success. Enacting these orders will create a proficient, highly skilled, merit-based civil service that efficiently implements DOGE’s recommendations. The result will be a civil service that effectively serves the American people.
Ryan Silverstein is a J.D. candidate at Villanova University and a fellow with Villanova’s McCullen Center for Law, Religion and Public Policy. His work has previously appeared in the New York Daily News, Post & Courier, and the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
Syndicated with permission from The Center Square.
