US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order that changes job protections for some federal employees working on policy-related roles.
The order removes job security protections from nearly 8,000 federal positions, Bloomberg reported.
These workers can be fired more easily if they do not carry out or support the president’s policy decisions.
The original estimate from the Office of Personnel Management was much higher, saying up to 50,000 federal employees could fall under the new classification.
The order mainly applies to senior-level federal staff, mostly at GS-15 and above, the highest level in the federal pay system.
These roles include senior officials in agencies, deputy directors, chiefs of staff, regional office heads, and top policy, budget, human resources, grant, and public affairs staff.
Workers placed in this category lose several civil service protections, including the right to appeal their dismissal to an independent review body in many cases.
Federal employee unions strongly oppose the order, arguing that the policy weakens the merit-based civil service system and opens the door to politically driven hiring and firing.
