Trump 2.0 shrinks SES ranks
- A new Partnership for Public Service report says Trump’s second administration has expanded political appointments while career Senior Executive Service ranks fell sharply by January. - The group counted 1,835 Schedule C appointees by end-2025, while career SES members dropped to 5,837 from 8,127 at Biden’s departure. - OPM’s February rule lets agencies move policy jobs into at-will Schedule Policy/Career, widening presidential control. (govinfo.gov)
President Donald Trump’s second administration has added political appointees at a record pace while the federal government’s career executive corps has shrunk to a modern low. (federalnewsnetwork.com) (ourpublicservice.org) The Partnership for Public Service reported that non-Senate-confirmed political appointments reached their highest level in at least 40 years. By the end of 2025, Trump had 1,835 Schedule C appointees across government. (federalnewsnetwork.com) (meritalk.com) At the same time, career Senior Executive Service membership fell from 8,127 at the end of the Biden administration to 5,837 by January 2026. The Partnership called that a nearly 30% drop and the lowest level since at least 1998. (federalnewsnetwork.com) (meritalk.com) The Senior Executive Service is the layer of top managers who run big programs, budgets and staff below Cabinet officials. It includes career executives and a smaller share of political executives, with law capping noncareer SES members at 10% governmentwide. (opm.gov) (federalnewsnetwork.com) The Partnership said political appointees now make up 11.7% of all SES positions, above that statutory 10% ceiling for noncareer SES. The group said the shift changes who holds decision-making power inside agencies. (federalnewsnetwork.com) (meritalk.com) The administration has also changed the rules around policy jobs below the Senate-confirmed tier. On February 6, 2026, the Office of Personnel Management published a final rule creating Schedule Policy/Career, with an effective date of March 9. (govinfo.gov) (congress.gov) That rule lets agencies move “policy-influencing” career jobs into an excepted-service category with fewer notice and appeal rights in removals and suspensions. OPM said the purpose is to increase accountability and make it easier to remove employees who obstruct presidential directives. (govinfo.gov) (congress.gov) OPM has also pushed agencies to revisit which Senior Executive Service jobs must stay career-only. A February 2025 memo told agencies to review “career reserved” positions, and OPM said chief information officer roles could be redesignated so political appointees can fill them. (federalnewsnetwork.com) (fedweek.com) Supporters of the rule say presidents need more control over officials who shape policy. Critics, including the Partnership for Public Service, say the combined effect is to reduce institutional memory and weaken nonpartisan management capacity inside agencies. (govinfo.gov) (ourpublicservice.org) As of April 29, 2026, the Partnership and The Washington Post tracker listed 413 Trump nominees for roughly 824 Senate-confirmed positions they monitor, with 338 confirmed. The larger struggle is happening outside that visible confirmation process, in the jobs presidents can fill or redesignate with much less scrutiny. (ourpublicservice.org)
