Politico reports:

The Biden administration put the finishing touches Thursday on a plan to restrict presidents from unilaterally nixing civil service protections from large swaths of the federal workforce, as former President Donald Trump renews his vow to uproot a perceived “deep state” if he is returned to the White House.

While a future president could take steps to squelch the new directive, it reflects a larger effort by the Biden administration to put a protective wall around its policies.

Under a final rule issued by the Office of Personnel Management, employees whose jobs include civil service protections would not lose them if their position is converted to an exempt category. However, they could choose to waive that security or voluntarily move to a role that serves at the will of the president — typically highly coveted positions toward the top of an agency’s org chart.

The regulations also establish several procedural hurdles for an administration to clear if it wants to shift jobs between categories. Federal workers who believe they are being stripped of their protections could challenge the move with the independent Merit Systems Protection Board. [Continue reading…]