Keep Factually independent
Whether you agree or disagree with our analysis, these conversations matter for democracy. We don't take money from political groups - even a $5 donation helps us keep it that way.
How does the 2025 reclassification affect eligibility for government hiring and pay scales?
Executive summary
The 2025 reclassification effort (reviving a Schedule F–style category) is described by the administration and commentators as a move to reclassify roughly 50,000 career federal employees and to change hiring practices so more employees are treated as politically accountable and easier to remove; Reuters reports the administration announced plans to reclassify “tens of thousands” and Federal News Network cites an OPM estimate of about 50,000 affected workers [1] [2]. The White House’s January 20, 2025 executive action and related Merit Hiring Plan emphasize faster hiring (target: under 80 days) and new merit-accountability rules that agencies must follow, which could interact with classifications and staffing priorities [3] [4].
1. What the reclassification actually is — a return to Schedule F–style rules
The initiative revives the idea of reclassifying employees who perform policy-related work into a different personnel category that reduces traditional civil-service protections; advocacy groups and past Project 2025 materials framed this as restoring a Schedule F-type classification that narrows merit protections and increases managerial authority to hire and fire [5] [6] [7]. Reuters summarized the administration’s announcement as changing employment classifications for “tens of thousands” of workers and noted that critics say a broad “policy” definition would sweep in many employees [1].
2. How many people could be affected
Official and reporting estimates vary but OPM was cited as estimating roughly 50,000 career federal employees could be reclassified under the proposed rules — a figure highlighted by Congressional Democrats and Federal News Network coverage [2]. Media coverage describes the administration’s language as targeting “tens of thousands,” which is consistent with the OPM estimate reported by Reuters and other outlets [1] [2].
3. Direct effects on hiring eligibility and “at-will” removal
Reclassification would change the statutory and regulatory footing of employees’ jobs: supporters argue it allows agencies to hold policy-facing employees to greater accountability and to align hiring with administration priorities; critics say reclassified staff would effectively lose longstanding merit-system protections and become easier to remove without the traditional cause-and-process standards [5] [6]. Reuters and advocacy reporting specifically emphasize that by treating policy work as the trigger, the pool of employees susceptible to different job protections would expand greatly [1] [5].
4. Pay scales and compensation — what changes are (and are not) signaled
The available materials in current reporting focus on classification and hiring authority rather than direct, immediate changes to established pay tables. Federal pay for most civilian employees in 2025 is governed by existing General Schedule and locality rules (e.g., a 1.7% GS base increase yielding an average ~2.0% overall raise for 2025), and Federal Register/OPM pay notices remain the mechanism for pay adjustments [8] [9] [10]. The sources do not state that the reclassification itself automatically changes an employee’s GS grade, locality adjustment, or statutory pay entitlements — available sources do not mention an automatic pay-scale change tied solely to reclassification [8] [9].
5. Indirect pay and workforce-sizing implications
While pay tables may not change automatically, reclassification can affect compensation indirectly by enabling different staffing decisions: the administration has tied reclassification to workforce reductions and a broader “Department of Government Efficiency” effort to cut size and prioritize hires in select mission areas, which could shift who is hired (and thus who receives GS pay and locality increases) and lead to net departures that change workforce demographics and budget allocations [3] [1] [11]. Organized-labor and watchdog groups warn that easier firing and potential large-scale reductions could displace experienced (higher-grade) staff, with downstream impacts on recruitment and total compensation costs; those predictions are made in advocacy reporting and political commentary [5] [7].
6. Political and legal context — contested terrain
The reclassification is politically contested: proponents (and documents linked to Project 2025) frame it as restoring managerial flexibility and “democratic responsiveness,” while opponents—including unions and Democratic lawmakers—say it politicizes the civil service and endangers merit protections; Congressional and OPM commentary reflect that tension, and some legislative proposals seek to block agency reclassification without congressional approval [5] [2] [7]. Reuters cites governance experts warning that a broad “policy” definition could sweep in many workers and make large-scale firings easier [1].
7. What to watch next
Key near-term signals to track in reporting and official documents are: the formal OPM rule text and guidance defining which positions meet the “policy” threshold; any agency-specific Merit Hiring Plans and exemptions; OPM’s lists of positions proposed for reclassification; and congressional or judicial actions challenging rulemaking — these items will determine who is eligible for reclassification and whether pay or statutory protections are altered in practice [3] [11] [2].
Limitations: reporting so far focuses on scope and intent; the sources in this packet do not provide an agency-by-agency list of affected jobs nor do they state an automatic change to pay scales tied solely to reclassification (available sources do not mention an automatic pay-scale change linked to reclassification) [8] [10].