Walkinshaw, Kaine Lead 51 Colleagues Demanding Answers After Trump Quietly Strips Protections from Career Federal Workers

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman James Walkinshaw (VA-11) and Senator Tim Kaine (D-Va.) are leading a congressional effort demanding answers from President Trump over the implementation of Schedule Policy/Career (Schedule P/C), a sweeping policy that strips civil service protections from thousands of career federal employees and could reshape the federal workforce around political loyalty instead of merit. In a letter to President Trump, Walkinshaw, Kaine, and their colleagues call on the Administration to disclose the full scope of Schedule P/C, explain how employees were selected for reclassification, and detail its impact on the federal workforce, whistleblower protections, and the delivery of critical government services. “America’s career civil servants serve the Constitution and the American people, not any president or political party,” said Rep. Walkinshaw . “Schedule P/C threatens nearly 150 years of merit-based civil service protections by making it easier to fire dedicated public servants for political reasons. Congress and the American people deserve answers about how many employees have been affected, how these decisions were made, and what this means for the government’s ability to serve the public.” “Our career civil servants keep our government running ,” said Senator Kaine . “Federal employees deserve the freedom to do their jobs professionally and without fear of political retaliation. The Trump-Vance Administration must explain to Congress, the federal workforce, and the public about how the implementation of Schedule P/C will affect the government’s ability to protect Americans and provide critical services that we all rely on.” The lawmakers warn that Schedule P/C undermines the merit-based civil service established by the Pendleton Civil Service Act of 1883, which ended the federal patronage system by requiring government jobs to be awarded based on merit instead of political connections. They argue the policy makes it easier to remove career employees without longstanding civil service protections and replace them with political loyalists. The letter also warns that employees reclassified under Schedule P/C could lose critical whistleblower protections. Rather than reporting waste, fraud, or abuse through the independent Office of Special Counsel, affected employees could be forced to report misconduct within their own agencies, increasing the risk of retaliation and making it harder to expose wrongdoing. The lawmakers are seeking answers to a series of questions, including: • How many federal employees and positions have been reclassified under Schedule P/C. • Which agencies, occupations, and grade levels have been affected. • The criteria used to determine which positions were labeled “policy-determining, policymaking, or policy-advocating.” • The total taxpayer cost of implementing Schedule P/C. • Whether the Administration plans to reclassify additional federal employees. • How the Administration will protect whistleblowers and comply with any court rulings concerning Schedule P/C. In addition to Walkinshaw and Kaine, the letter is also signed by U.S. Senators Gary C. Peters (D-MI), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Angela D. Alsobrooks (D-MD), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Brian Schatz (D-HI), Adam B. Schiff (D-CA), Mark R. Warner (D-VA), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI), Cory A. Booker (D-NJ), Patty Murray (D-WA), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Andy Kim (D-NJ), Edward J. Markey (D-MA), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Bernard Sanders (D-VT) as well as Representatives Robert Garcia (CA-42), Steny H. Hoyer (MD-05), Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC), Sydney Kamlager-Dove, Nikki Budzinski (CA-37), Suhas Subramanyam (VA-10), Dan Goldman (NY-10), Wesley Bell (MO-01), Mike Quigley (IL-05), Donald S. Beyer Jr. (VA-08), Judy Chu (CA-28), Rashida Tlaib (MI-12), Val Hoyle (OR-04), Alma S. Adams Ph.D. (NC-12), John W. Mannion (NY-22), Madeleine Dean (PA-04), Jasmine Crockett (TX-30), Jennifer L. McClellan (VA-04), Eugene Simon Vindman (VA-07), Jamie Raskin (MD-08), Johnny Olszewski, Jr. (MD-02), Timothy M. Kennedy (NY-26), Pramila Jayapal (WA-07), Robert C. "Bobby" Scott (VA-03), Adelita S. Grijalva (AZ-07), Maggie Goodlander (NH-02), Chellie Pingree (ME-01), Susie Lee (NV-03), Mark Pocan (WI-02), Greg Landsman (OH-01), April McClain Delaney (MD-06), Ro Khanna (CA-17), Zoe Lofgren (CA-18), Dave Min (CA-47), and Janelle S. Bynum (OR-05). The lawmakers requested that the Administration respond by July 31, 2026. Read the full letter here . ###