In October 2020, near the end of his first term, Trump imposed a new classification for career civil servants called Schedule F. It was intended to strip job security from career civil servants so they could be replaced by Trump loyalists. One of Joe Biden’s first actions was to eliminate Schedule F.

Trump pledged during his 2024 campaign to implement Schedule F. He calls the Civil Service “the deep state.” He believes that career bureaucrats slow-walked or impeded some of his most extreme ideas. And he is on his way, with full control of the Executive branch, both Houses of Congress, and (usually) the Supreme Court.

By implementing Schedule F, Trump would gain control of 50,000 jobs that are now held by civil servants. He and his deputies could replace them with MAGA loyalists.

The creation of the Civil Service was considered a very important reform and has been sacrosanct for more than a century. Before the Civil Service Commission was created in 1883, government jobs were handed out based on party affiliation. This was known as “the Spoils System.” The saying went “to the victor goes the spoils.” Win the election and appoint the people of your own party, who will be loyal to you.

Trump wants a return to the Spoils System, so he can appoint Trump loyalists. He wants to turn the clock back more than a century.

Here is a brief description of the history of civil service reform:

The first comprehensive merit-based civil service system was put in place by the Pendleton Civil
Service Reform Act of 1883, which created the United States Civil Service Commission. The
Act ended the Spoils System by specifying that merit – qualifications measured by testing – is
the basis of hiring decisions. For the first time, appointments were open to all citizens, made
based on merit, and were given to the best qualified applicants. The Act also protected
incumbents from being thrown out of office simply because of a change in the Presidency,
providing tenure protection for employees and ensuring their political neutrality. Initially, only
about 10.5% of Federal jobs were included in the competitive civil service system. By the end
of the century, approximately 42% were included; by the early 1900s, it was over 60%; and by
1952, over 90% of Federal jobs were included in the civil service system.

Merit-based civil service systems followed in the states and at the local level. The first state civil
service law was enacted under the leadership of then-Assembly Member Theodore Roosevelt
and then-Governor Grover Cleveland in New York in 1883. Teddy Roosevelt also served as a
commissioner on the United States Civil Service Commission and was a staunch supporter of
the civil service during his presidency, leading to a period of major government expansion and
further reforms of the civil service system. Roosevelt is known as the “Father” of modern civil service….

After World War II, the rise of collective bargaining in the public sector and the civil rights movement affected the civil service system, bringing the ideas of Equal Employment
Opportunity, affirmative action, and equal pay for equal work into the world of personnel
administration. The Civil Rights Act of 1964, Equal Pay Act of 1963, Age Discrimination in
Employment Act of 1967, Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and the Americans With Disabilities Act of
1990 all marked the growing inclusiveness of public personnel policies and procedures. These
movements clearly spoke to the fundamental civil service ideal that appointments are based on
merit established by competitive processes, not on any other factors.

By the 1970s, a new civil service reform movement began with the goal of making civil service more responsive to the personnel needs of executives and managers. While the first reforms begun in the late nineteenth century established the principles of competitiveness and merit, they also created a significant separation between management and personnel administration.

Managers had little control over personnel issues and their day to day operational needs were
often stymied by overly restrictive civil service rules. Despite the decentralization of civil service
systems during the Roosevelt era, personnel offices still retained significant control and
managers continually found there were significant barriers to effectively attracting, retaining, evaluating, disciplining, rewarding, and terminating employees.

The Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 was designed to address these issues at the Federal
level. The Act abolished the Civil Service Commission and created the Office of Personnel
Management in its place. Agency chief executives were given direct policy control over
personnel functions and the purpose of the civil service system moved from a regulatory
function to a service orientation in order to better support organizational and leadership efforts.

Civil service processes were streamlined and simplified; the merit system restated and
expanded to include an employee’s abilities, education, experience, and job performance; and
the emphasis turned to recruitment, career advancement, performance based compensation,
and performance appraisal. The Act also created the Senior Executive Service, which is
designed to help attract and retain high level senior executives outside of the civil service
system. Many of these changes were mirrored at the state and local levels.

This latest reform movement lost momentum under President Reagan during the early 1980s
and many of the same concerns brought to light during the 1970s regarding the responsiveness
of civil service systems continue to exist today.

The primary goal of the civil service system has been and continues to be to ensure that
appointments to government jobs are based on merit and ability as determined through a
competitive process. The principles of civil service specify that the most qualified person be
appointed to the job; that appointments not be based on any other factors such as political
activity or patronage; and that incumbents are protected from the political whims of elected
officials. This primary purpose of civil service has remained constant throughout the various
historical movements that have changed and shaped civil service over the last 200 years.

Adapted from the website for the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (www.opm.gov) and
The New Public Personnel Administration by Nigro, Nigro, and Kelloug