Overview

• The Office of Personnel Management has proposed reclassifying 50,000 federal civil servants into a new 'policy/career' category, making them easier to dismiss for 'poor performance or misconduct.'
• Experts warn that the rule change could target statisticians producing economic data that conflicts with presidential priorities, potentially undermining the integrity of federal statistics.
• The proposal stems from an executive order signed by President Trump on January 20, 2025, shortly after his inauguration.
• Critics, including former Bureau of Labor Statistics officials, are urging stakeholders to submit objections during the public comment period, which closes on May 23, 2025.
• Concerns have been raised that politicized data manipulation could harm U.S. economic credibility, drawing parallels to financial crises in countries like Argentina and Greece.