How Trump’s Schedule F Order Affects Your Supervisors — And Why That Matters for Hampton VA Employees

On June 3, 2026, President Trump signed an executive order converting approximately 8,000 federal employees to at-will status — meaning they can be fired at any time, for any reason, with no appeal rights.

If you’re a bargaining unit employee, you are not directly targeted by this order. The 8,000 positions affected are almost entirely GS-15 — supervisors, program managers, and senior policy officials who are management, not union members.

But what happens to your managers directly affects your working conditions. Here’s what you need to understand.

What Changed

The executive order implements Schedule Policy/Career, a rule the administration finalized in February 2026. During Trump’s first term, the same policy was called Schedule F. It removes civil service due-process protections that have shielded the federal workforce from political interference for nearly 140 years — protections created after a disgruntled job-seeker assassinated President James Garfield in 1881.

Under current law, managers and supervisors can only be fired for specific reasons — poor performance or misconduct — and must be given a chance to appeal. Under Schedule Policy/Career, they become at-will: no reason required, no appeal.

The affected roles include:

• Leaders of policy offices and their chiefs of staff
• Heads of regional offices
• Program managers
• Senior public affairs officers
• Those overseeing federal spending and grants

The original OPM estimate was up to 50,000 positions. The administration has not ruled out expanding the pool beyond 8,000.

What This Means for Hampton VA Employees

Hampton VA Healthcare System runs more than two dozen clinical and administrative service lines. The supervisors and program managers above you are in the pool of affected positions.

When those managers lose civil service protections, the consequences flow downhill:

Increased management pressure on workers. An at-will supervisor who wants to keep their job has an incentive to comply with politically-motivated directives — including directives that affect your working conditions, telework, schedules, or assignments.

Management instability. Supervisors who speak up or resist unlawful orders can be removed overnight. That turnover disrupts operations and creates hostile or chaotic work environments for BUEs.

Erosion of neutral management. Civil service protections were designed to keep management apolitical. When those protections are stripped from your supervisors, the insulation between politics and your day-to-day workplace disappears.

This is happening in an environment where Hampton VAMC employees have already faced aggressive return-to-office mandates, denial of approved accommodations, and management conduct that has driven members to file grievances.

What Members Can Do

Know your rights. As a bargaining unit employee, your civil service protections remain intact. Management cannot direct you to act unlawfully or in violation of your CBA, regardless of pressure from above.

Use your union. If management conduct changes or you experience new pressure on working conditions, telework, schedules, or rights — contact AFGE Local 2328 immediately.

• Union office: Building 135, Room AG14, Hampton VAMC
• Email: [email protected]

Document everything. If your supervisor tells you something is changing about your working conditions, get it in writing.

Multiple organizations are challenging Schedule Policy/Career in court, including Democracy Forward. AFGE is fighting this nationally. Legal outcomes are still pending.

Sources

• NPR: Trump strips job protections from 8,000 federal workers (June 3, 2026)
• NPR: Trump administration finalizes Schedule F rule (February 2026)

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In solidarity, AFGE Local 2328 — Representing the employees of Hampton VA Medical Center