Documents › Agency rules › 2026-02375
Personnel Management Office
Improving Performance, Accountability and Responsiveness in the Civil Service
Published February 6, 2026. Takes effect March 9, 2026. printed at 91 FR 5580. amending 5 CFR 210, 5 CFR 212, 5 CFR 213, 5 CFR 302.
This changes how career federal staff are held to account for their work.
What the Rule Says It Does
The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is issuing a rule to increase career employee accountability. Agency supervisors report great difficulty removing employees for poor performance or misconduct. The final rule authorizes agencies to move policy-influencing positions into Schedule Policy/Career. These positions will remain career jobs filled on a nonpartisan basis. Yet they will be at-will positions excepted from adverse action procedures or appeals. This will allow agencies to quickly remove employees from critical positions who engage in misconduct, perform poorly, or obstruct the democratic process by intentionally subverting Presidential directives. The rule requires agencies to establish internal policies protecting employees from prohibited personnel practices.
This is the rule's own summary, as the Federal Register prints it.
The Order It Names
The rule names this order itself. What it does about it is a reading, and none is recorded here.
How This Rule Is Quoted
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