The Big Story 

An executive order from President Trump creating a new class of federal employee is already under legal challenge.

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The latest move by Trump would allow those working on policy to be swiftly hired and fired like political appointees.

The measure reignites an idea rolled out in the waning days of Trump’s first term in office, creating a class of employee — Schedule F — who can be hired outside the traditional merit-based system for bureaucrats, raising fears of politicization of the workforce.

In the recent suit filed by the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU), the group said that Congress “has enacted comprehensive legislation governing the hiring and employment of federal employees.”

“When establishing hiring principles, Congress determined that most federal government jobs be in the merit-based, competitive service. And it established that most federal employees have due process rights if their agency employer wants to remove them from employment.”

“Because the Policy/Career Executive Order attempts to divest federal employees of these due process rights, it is contrary to congressional intent,” it added. The order from Trump complained that accountability among federal employees is currently “sorely lacking.”

The Hill’s Rebecca Beitsch has more here.

Welcome to The Hill’s Business & Economy newsletter, we’re Aris Folley and Taylor Giorno — covering the intersection of Wall Street and Pennsylvania Avenue.

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Essential Reads 

Key business and economic news with implications this week and beyond:

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Tax Watch 

Senate panel advances Bessent to confirmation vote

Welcome to Tax Watch, a new feature in The Hill’s Business & Economy newsletter focused on the fight over tax reform and the push to extend the 2017 Trump tax cuts this year.

The Senate Finance Committee took a small but significant step toward advancing Trump’s tax agenda Tuesday.

The panel voted to recommend Scott Bessent, Trump’s pick to be Treasury secretary, for a full Senate confirmation vote, teeing up for confirmation sometime within the next couple of weeks.

Senators voted 16-11 to advance Bessent’s nomination, with Democratic Sens. Mark Warner (Va.) and Maggie Hassan (N.H.) voting in favor of the nominee, along with all Republican members.

Most other Democrats, including Senate Finance ranking member Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), voiced opposition to Bessent, citing his support for Trump’s tax cuts and his handling of his own taxes.

“He has opted out of paying his fair share of his Medicare taxes. The IRS has gone to court twice to ban this particular scheme that Mr. Bessent is using,” Wyden said. “Treasury policy says what Mr. Bessent is doing is against the law.”

But Bessent nonetheless seems like a lock for confirmation in the GOP-controlled Senate, which is eager to begin work on Trump’s agenda.

Aris Folley has more here.

— Sylvan Lane 

The Ticker 

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