Trump Plans to Fire Policy-Making Federal Workers Who Don’t Follow His Agenda

Donald Trump announced Friday that career government employees who work on policy issues will soon face a dramatic change: toe the president’s line or risk being fired.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump declared that the Office of Personnel Management will issue new civil service regulations. These rules will create a new classification—‘Schedule Policy/Career’—meaning these employees would be considered ‘at will’ and could be shown the door if they don’t align with the president’s agenda.

According to Trump, these workers will be held to what he called the “highest standards of conduct and performance.” The move is part of his administration’s ongoing effort to shrink the government, including recent firings and a push to cut budgets across federal agencies.

The White House explained that this change could impact about 50,000 federal employees, roughly 2% of the workforce. The new rules target those in “important policy-determining, policy-making, policy-advocating, or confidential duties,” removing their current job protections and, in Trump’s words, overturning regulations the Biden administration put in place to safeguard against unfair firings.

Trump didn’t mince words: if workers resist advancing his policies—or are caught in corruption—they’re out. He championed the idea of running the government “like a business,” insisting that rooting out corruption and boosting accountability should be the new normal.

The White House echoed this sentiment, saying the rule will let agencies “swiftly remove employees in policy-influencing roles for poor performance, misconduct, corruption, or subversion of Presidential directives, without lengthy procedural hurdles.”

It’s worth noting: employees don’t have to be personal fans of the president. But under these rules, they’d be required to faithfully carry out the administration’s policies and legal directives.

For now, the proposed rule doesn’t immediately change anyone’s job status; another executive order will be needed to make it official. One thing’s clear: the message from Trump is that loyalty isn’t just appreciated—it’s mandatory.