The Biden administration on Thursday issued final rules meant to protect the jobs of the government's 2.2 million civil servants, as Republican challenger
Donald Trump plans to replace thousands with hardline loyalists if he returns to the White House.
The U.S. Office of Personnel Management said the rule is meant to clarify longstanding protections for career civil service employees, after former President Trump in his final months in office sought to impose rule changes that would have made it easier for him to fire them.
Democratic
President Joe Biden revoked that executive order, known as Schedule F, shortly after he took office in January 2021. Trump has pledged to reintroduce the rule if elected, and Thursday's action would likely only slow, not stop, him from doing so.
That would give him the power to potentially fire tens of thousands of career, nonpolitical workers and bring in loyalists willing to implement far-right policies and his self-described "retribution" agenda against those he feels have wronged him.