The order, released by the White House and the Office of Personnel Management, strips job protections from a mostly senior group of federal workers earning up ​to almost $200,000 a year and who are deemed to be “influencing” government policy.

In ​a call previewing the move, Scott Kupor, director of the Office ⁠of Personnel Management, which oversees the government’s human resources policies, said the ​administration needs to employ people willing and able to carry out orders to ​achieve the administration’s policy priorities.

“You can have any political views, but if you allow those views to basically interfere with your willingness to actually carry out lawful orders and ​policy directives with the administration, then this provides a mechanism obviously for ​people in those agencies to be able to be removed effectively at will,” he said.

The ‌order ⁠shows Trump is persisting in his efforts to discipline and fire career employees who he sees as undermining his political goals, a year after billionaire Elon Musk left his post overseeing an effort to slash government spending and ​payrolls.

Trump believes his agenda ​was hampered by ⁠career federal workers who opposed his policies during his first term.

The number of workers affected by the order is ​well below a ceiling estimate of up to 50,000 ​workers who ⁠could have been made subject to the new rules.

Senior administration officials on the call said Trump could expand the grouping, but has no immediate plans ⁠to ​do so.

Federal worker unions and their allies sued ​in January to stop the policy before it was fully developed.

Federal judges paused the litigation ​while the Trump administration finalised changes.