The Partnership for Public Service on Wednesday unveiled its new vision for better government, a plan to improve how federal agencies hire, fire and promote federal employees and deliver services to the public.

The plan is a clear rejection of proposals like Schedule F, the unsuccessful 2020 attempt to move tens of thousands of federal employees in “policy-related” service out of competitive service, effectively turning them into on-call workers. Both Trump and the Republican Party more broadly have indicated they would quickly revive the plan upon returning to the White House, both in Trump’s own campaign speeches and as part of Project 2025, the presidential transition project led by the Heritage Foundation.

“Unfortunately, the proposals of former President Donald Trump and his political allies would give a president and political appointees the power to arbitrarily fire thousands of professional, nonpartisan, and due process officials and replace them with individuals deemed loyal to the White House,” the Partnership wrote. “(Our) government is not perfect, but we must modernize it, not burn it down.”

The group explained that, contrary to supporters of the Schedule F program, the idea that the president needs greater latitude to fire employees he sees as “resisting” or otherwise disloyal to achieving the goals of his constituents would have the opposite effect, making the government less responsive, not more.

“The plans would undermine our government’s ability to provide fair and responsive services,” they wrote. “A federal workforce comprised of employees hired based on their political beliefs rather than their skills and qualifications would move us further away from the kind of government the public deserves. It would strip federal agencies of their competence and impair their ability to serve everyone well, not just those who support the current president.”

The plan is based on five pillars: developing better agency leaders, further improving the federal hiring process, holding underperformers accountable, using data and technology to find better services for the public, and improving customer service.

Citing low morale among senior executives as identified in the annual Federal Employees Viewpoint Survey – 57.3 out of 100 according to the Partnership’s Best Places to Work criteria, compared to 65.7 across government – and difficulties in persuading senior General Schedule employees to apply for the Senior Executive Service, the group recommends creating a modern, standardized set of leadership requirements with better management training.

In addition, the plan proposes reducing the number of presidential appointments that require Senate confirmation, noting that the average time it takes for a nominee to be inaugurated has tripled since the Reagan administration — to more than six months. Not only does that make it harder for agencies to reach full strength after a presidential transition, it also reduces the time lawmakers can devote to debating and voting on legislation. Votes cast in the Senate on nominations have risen from 10% of all registered votes during the George HW Bush administration to 60% under Trump and President Biden.

On the hiring process, the partnership supports expanding the Biden administration’s work to encourage agencies to improve their internship and other opportunities for entry-level professionals, and the work of both parties in recent years to implement a competency-based hiring process that measures applicants not on their educational attainment but on their experience and skills demonstrated to subject matter experts.

The partnership called for a holistic approach to improving the way supervisors deal with subordinates who perform poorly, including better training for managers on how to hold staff to account, encouraging supervisors to assess and make a positive decision on whether to retain new staff beyond their one-year probationary period before most civil service protections kick in, and “streamlining” the disciplinary process.

“The current process for treating underperformers in the government is difficult for managers and confusing for workers. It results in a lack of accountability for government employees who do not effectively perform their roles and duties,” the plan states. “It is important to ensure that federal employees cannot be fired for politically motivated or unfair reasons. However, there are ways to update and simplify the current system so that underperformers can be more easily removed from office.”

And the group echoed longstanding complaints that the government spends too much money maintaining outdated IT and other computer systems rather than modernizing those networks. Progress on that front could not only make agencies’ jobs more efficient, but also lead to breaking down the information silos that agency leaders need to develop new solutions to problems.