The Trump administration was quietly hiring political appointees as “Schedule G” personnel at least a year before the new employment category was formally regulated.
The Partnership for Public Service found in Oct. 13 data analysis that agencies have made at least 25 Schedule G appointments, the earliest dating back to August 2025. Twenty-two of those appointments are serving at the Department of Veterans Affairs, along with two appointees at the Education Department and one at the Labor Department.
“We don’t know how much of the full picture that represents,” Chris Piper, senior manager for public policy at the Partnership for Public Service, said in an interview. “We believe there’s a high likelihood that there’s a much higher degree of Schedule G’s that we’re not currently aware of.”
The rise in Schedule G appointments comes amid a broader surge in political leadership under the Trump administration, currently at a 40-year high. At the same time, the career Senior Executive Service has shrunk by 30%, now at its smallest size in at least 25 years.
“Schedule G opens yet another channel for political staff and further complicates the maze of federal workforce categories and systems,” the Partnership wrote in its Oct. 13 post. “Yet, this addition does not have any clear value in terms of the government’s ability to deliver for the public good.”
In July 2025, President Donald Trump signed an executive order establishing Schedule G in the federal workforce, to fill positions of a “policy-making or policy-advocating” character. OPM followed by issuing guidance on the expectations for agencies to begin hiring through the new employment category.
OPM later proposed regulations in September 2026 to align with the Trump administration’s personnel classification — more than a year after the first Schedule G appointee was hired in August 2025.
“The current administration is reshaping the workforce meant to serve the American people but doing it under the radar, without input from Congress and more than a year before the public had a chance to weigh in through rulemaking,” the Partnership wrote.
As appointees began serving in Schedule G roles, no information was publicly available for months, the Partnership said. Some data on Schedule G appointments became available this October in the Plum book, an online resource listing information on senior leaders and political appointees serving across the executive branch.
“It is very problematic that we don’t have a sense of this new appointment category — folks getting paid by the federal government, appointed by the president, to serve in leadership positions across federal agencies, and we only found out about it through a non-publicized data update,” Piper said.
And while the traditional Schedule C hiring authority for political appointees includes certain guardrails — monthly reporting requirements on new appointments; restrictions on appointees detailed to the White House; and a formal sign-off process from the Office of Personnel Management — Piper said it’s a different picture for Schedule G.
“These appointments have been able to be made without that formality and, most importantly, without any other public disclosure,” he said.
In response, OPM spokesperson Kiki Nyoh said, “the claim that there were no formal guardrails governing use is not accurate.”
“The schedule took effect under the executive order, which itself modified the regulations, and OPM issued implementing guidance to agencies on July 29, 2025,” Nyoh said in a statement to Federal News Network. “The pending proposed rule would make conforming amendments … it does not establish the underlying authority for Schedule G.”
When it established Schedule G last year, the Trump administration said Schedule C left a “gap” in the ability to appoint individuals for key policy roles.
“Creating Schedule G fills this gap and facilitates appointments of non-career federal employees who will serve temporarily and implement the policy agenda prescribed by the American people through our elections,” a July 2025 White House fact sheet states. “This will improve operations, particularly in agencies like the Department of Veterans Affairs, by streamlining appointments for key policy roles.”
But many of the publicly reported positions filled under Schedule G align with typical Schedule C positions. Over the past year, Schedule G hires have included many assistants and advisors to Senate-confirmed personnel, individuals in legislative affairs roles, a speechwriter and a press secretary.
Asked to comment on why 22 publicly listed appointees were hired as Schedule G rather than Schedule C, a VA spokesperson referred Federal News Network to the White House’s fact sheet describing the rationale for creating the separate Schedule G category.
The Partnership for Public Service urged Congress to consider adding caps on the number of non-Senate-confirmed political appointments, as well as more guardrails on Schedule G, similar to the current setup for Schedule C.
“One of the biggest ways that political appointees are accountable is by them being known to the public,” Piper said. “It’s very important for us to know who is serving in high-level positions across the federal government, who’s been placed in leadership positions by the president and what kinds of roles are they performing.”
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