State Dept Is Screening GS-13/14s for At-Will Status

Last Updated: August 16, 2026 Reading Time: 8 min

The first Schedule Policy/Career wave in June took roughly 8,000 positions, 97% of them GS-15 and above. Round two reaches lower. The State Department is now screening GS-13 and GS-14 civil service positions with a seven-question form, and it has frozen routine reclassifications while the review runs. Here's what the questionnaire asks and what a yes answer means for your job.

The Seven Questions State Is Asking About Your Job

Per GovExec's August 13 reporting, supervisors are being asked whether each GS-13/14 position:

1. "Formulates, develops and/or determines foreign policy, including creation of draft documents with policy recommendations"
2. "Develops or reviews non-public Executive Orders, regulations, directives, policy memoranda, or deliberative materials protected by the deliberative process privilege regarding foreign policy"
3. "Provides substantive advocacy of foreign policy"
4. Represents the department before Congress, OMB, or foreign governments regarding administration policy
5. "Publicly advocates Administration foreign policy through official communications or media engagement"
6. "Exercises delegated authority to commit or bind the Department to policy decisions"
7. Conducts official bargaining or negotiations for the department, or "performs statutory policy-making responsibilities"

How many yes answers trigger a Schedule P/C designation has not been disclosed. Employees quoted in the reporting flagged exactly that opacity: drafting a single memo with a recommendation in it could arguably satisfy question one.

The grade drop is the story. GS-13/14 is the working core of the civil service, and OPM has previously estimated up to 50,000 positions government-wide could eventually qualify. If the questionnaire model sticks at State, other agencies have a template.

What Actually Changes If Your Position Converts

The benefits panic is mostly misplaced. The procedural loss is real. Our Schedule P/C benefits guide covers the mechanics in depth; the short version:

Unchanged: FEHB enrollment and premiums, TSP contributions and match, FERS pension accrual, FEGLI, pay grade and step, leave accrual, tenure and veterans' preference for RIF purposes, EEO complaint rights under Title VII, the ADEA, and the Rehabilitation Act.

Gone the day you convert: the PIP requirement before a performance removal, 30-day advance notice, and MSPB appeal rights for performance and conduct actions. Whistleblower protection technically survives, but enforcement shifts from the Office of Special Counsel to your agency's own general counsel, which is a very different audience for a complaint.

Money consequences: P/C employees removed for performance or misconduct don't qualify for severance under 5 U.S.C. 5595. A RIF separation, by contrast, can still carry severance. If you want to know what that number would look like for your grade and service, run the Severance Pay Calculator.

Who's Most Exposed at GS-13/14

Reading the seven questions against actual State position types:

High exposure: foreign affairs and political officers who draft policy cables or recommendations, legislative affairs specialists who face Congress, public diplomacy staff doing official media engagement, and budget or program staff presenting to OMB.

Moderate exposure: economic officers drafting trade or sanctions analysis, and anyone whose position description includes deliberative-process work products.

Lower exposure: consular operations, administrative and management officers, IT, security, and logistics roles, where none of the seven questions naturally attach.

One caution in both directions: exposure follows your position description, not your actual workload. A PD written years ago with grand policy language could pull a desk officer into scope, and a modest PD could shield someone doing genuinely deliberative work.

If the Questionnaire Reaches Your Position

1. Pull your position description now from your eOPF and read it the way a screener would: does the PD language, not your daily reality, answer yes to any of the seven questions?

2. Don't make benefits-driven panic moves. Your TSP, FEHB, and pension ride through reclassification untouched. Decisions like accelerating retirement or declining a promotion should be based on the procedural change, not a mistaken fear of losing benefits.

3. Know the acknowledgment-form trap. Converted employees are asked to sign an acknowledgment of their new status. Our Schedule P/C acknowledgment form guide covers what signing does and doesn't mean before anything lands on your desk.

4. Check whether you're already on a list. The June wave's positions are checkable: how to check the 8,000-position list.

5. Watch the end of September. OPM's expanded government-wide list is expected at the White House by then. If your agency hasn't run a questionnaire yet, that date is the signal for whether one is coming.

The litigation backdrop matters too: two lawsuits challenging Schedule P/C are pending, but no court has issued an injunction as of August 16. Plan around the rule being in effect, not around it being struck down.

Know Your Numbers Before Anyone Decides for You

The rational response to reduced job security is knowing exactly what your fallback looks like. Use the free Severance Pay Calculator to see what a RIF separation would pay at your grade and years of service.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which positions are being screened?

GS-13 and GS-14 civil service positions at the State Department, via a seven-question supervisor form focused on foreign-policy formulation, advocacy, and delegated authority. Routine reclassifications for those grades are frozen during the review.

Do I lose FEHB, TSP, or my pension if my job converts?

No. All benefits, pay, and leave continue unchanged. The change is procedural: no PIP, no 30-day notice, no MSPB appeal for performance or conduct removals.

Are Foreign Service Officers included?

No. FSOs serve under the Foreign Service Act, outside Title 5, and Schedule P/C applies to Title 5 civil service positions. OPM guidance requires separate instruction before any non-Title 5 system could be included.

How many yes answers convert a position?

Unknown. State hasn't disclosed the threshold, which employees have criticized. Treat any yes-adjacent PD language as potential exposure.

Is this only happening at State?

No. Reporting indicates a government-wide push, with OPM using AI to scan position descriptions across agencies and an expanded list due at the White House by the end of September 2026.

Can P/C employees still get severance?

Only for non-cause separations like a RIF. Removal for performance or conduct disqualifies a P/C employee from severance under 5 U.S.C. 5595.

Related Resources

• Severance Pay Calculator: What a RIF separation would pay at your grade.
• Schedule P/C Day-One Guide: What actually changes the day your position converts.
• Schedule P/C and Your Benefits: The FEHB, TSP, and FERS mechanics in detail.
• Can I Be Fired At Will Now?: The removal framework and what protections remain.
• RIF Survival Guide: The complete playbook if separation ever moves from theory to notice.

Sources: GovExec, August 13, 2026, NOTUS reporting on the government-wide directive, OPM Schedule Policy/Career guidance, CRS legal analysis.