The Trump administration is proposing the biggest change to its employee retention rules in decades, attempting to substitute job performance for seniority in deciding who’s fired when an agency institutes layoffs.
In a 102-page rulemaking proposal set to be published Thursday, the Office of Personnel Management said the new system would make reduction-in-force regulations “more streamlined, efficient, and merit-based.”
The proposal will likely open up a new front in President Donald Trump’s efforts to significantly reduce and remake the federal workforce. OPM data released Wednesday show that the number of civilian federal employees declined by 39,305 in January to 2,035,344. That’s the lowest level since January 2015, during President Barack Obama’s tenure.
Under the current system governing layoffs, employees are grouped by tenure and veteran status, then ranked largely by adjusted service date — a formula that folds performance ratings into additional “years” of credit.
The new proposal would flip those criteria. Employees would be ranked primarily by a numerical “performance credit” based on their three most recent ratings of record, with veterans’ preference points added on top. Tenure and length of service would serve only as tiebreakers.
The American Federation of Government Employees, the largest union representing federal workers, said the proposal would allow agencies to “weaponize” performance scores — which OPM wants to change by capping the number of employees who can get the highest ratings.
“This proposal is part of a coordinated campaign,” AFGE President Everett Kelley said in a statement. “Together, these proposed rules represent a blueprint for faster, less accountable mass firings and another step in the administration’s effort to dismantle the nonpartisan civil service.”
The regulations would also change how employees subject to a layoff are able to “bump” other employees in the same agency. And they would exclude probationary employees from the process altogether, making it easier for agencies to dismiss trial-period and new hire employees at will.
The current system dates back to the Veterans’ Preference Act of 1944, which codified a longstanding practice of giving favored treatment to military veterans in hiring and firing rules. The rules clarified exceptions for military spouses and families expecting children.
“Taxpayers and federal employees deserve a better set of procedures for RIFs,” said OPM spokesperson McLaurine Pinover.
OPM will seek public comments on the proposed rule for at least 60 days before making it final.
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