The US Office of Personnel Management finalized a rule creating a new employment category that removes civil-service protections for an estimated 50,000 high-ranking career federal employees, expanding the president’s ability to hire and fire them.

According to a government statement and reporting cited by the Wall Street Journal, OPM is set to establish the new category on Thursday for senior career roles involved in carrying out administration policies, making those positions exempt from longstanding civil service protections that limit removals. OPM officials said the change is intended in part to enable discipline of employees viewed as obstructing administration policies.