Trump administration aims to reclassify some career civil servants so it's easier to fire them

The Trump administration is moving forward with a new rule to classify some career civil servants as "at-will" federal employees, the White House said, a move the administration says will make it easier to fire underperforming or subversive employees. 

The White House says the rule, formerly referred to as "Schedule F," "empowers federal agencies to swiftly remove employees in policy-influencing roles for poor performance, misconduct, corruption, or subversion of presidential directives, without lengthy procedural hurdles."

The Office of Personnel Management estimates about 50,000 positions will ultimately be changed to the new status. Civil service employees currently have more protections than political appointees, under a rule intended to prevent turnover from administration to administration. Axios was first to report the administration's move to weaken protections for some civil servants.