Trump’s order calls for the creation of “Civil Service Rule XI,” requiring agencies to review and approve probationary employees before they become tenured.
April 25, 2025 4:11 pm
5 min read
Probationary employees will now have an additional hurdle to clear before they can solidify their federal employment, according to an executive order President Donald Trump signed Thursday evening.
Trump’s new order calls for the creation of “Civil Service Rule XI,” which will require agencies to review and actively sign off on probationary workers’ continued employment before they can be moved out of a probationary period.
Federal employees are put into probationary periods when they first enter the civil service, or when they begin a new position, for example after getting a promotion. Once a probationary period ends — usually after one or two years of federal service — employees will automatically transition out of probationary status.
“Instead of these employees becoming tenured civil servants by default, Rule XI requires agencies to affirmatively certify that finalizing their appointment after their probationary or trial period concludes advances the public interest,” the White House wrote Thursday in a fact sheet detailing the intentions of the executive order.
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