White House lifts restrictions on federal hiring

The Bush administration has lifted restrictions on hiring rank-and-file federal workers, according to a new memo from the Office of Management and Budget. But limits on hiring managers are still in place. Agencies without a Senate-confirmed head can now hire employees for non-supervisory positions below the GS-13 level, according to an April 23 memo from OMB Deputy Director Sean O'Keefe. Hiring controls were also lifted for Presidential Management Interns, summer hires and candidates for the federal recruitment program for college students with disabilities. President Bush's chief of staff, Andrew H. Card Jr., established the hiring controls in a Jan. 20 memo sent to heads and acting heads of executive agencies shortly after Bush was inaugurated. According to the memo, "no decision relating to hiring shall be made unless and until such decision is reviewed and approved by a department or agency head appointed by the President after noon on Jan. 20, 2001." On Jan. 30, OMB Director Mitch Daniels issued a memo loosening the hiring restrictions. Daniels said within-grade salary increases and internal career ladder promotions for employees were exempt from the hiring controls.

Card's memo allowed Senate-confirmed agency heads to throw the restrictions out and develop their own hiring rules once they assumed their positions. While Bush's Cabinet picks have now been confirmed, some agencies, including the Office of Personnel Management and the General Services Administration, are still waiting for confirmed leaders. During the presidential campaign, Bush pledged to eliminate 40,000 federal management positions. Reed Watts, a government affairs representative with the Federal Managers Association, said it was too early to tell whether the administration's hiring controls have had any impact on hiring managers. The Federal Managers Association represents more than 200,000 managers and supervisors. "Supervisor levels need to be looked at on an individual basis," Watts said. "You can't take an arbitrary number for the level of supervisors and apply it across the board in the federal government." Watts said FMA would support reducing the number of federal supervisors in some areas, but not in those areas where an agency's mission has an impact on the safety of Americans. "We would have a problem reducing the number of supervisors in agencies, such as the FAA, that focus on safety," Watts said. Carol Bonosaro, president of the Senior Executives Association, said the hiring thaw is a good step. "At this point any lifting of the hiring freeze is better than no lifting of the freeze at all. Even though it is limited, it will be helpful. In the end, you do need the presence of warm bodies to do the work of government. It has been a bit frustrating for many managers not to be able to bring people on board," Bonosaro said. Although Bonosaro said it is understandable for a new administration to want its own leadership on board first, it is difficult to reinvigorate the federal hiring process once it has been stopped. "Any time you stop the hiring stream, you lose any people who are in the pipeline," she said.