OPM
Top Oversight Dem criticizes OPM’s forced distribution plan for federal worker appraisals
Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., said that the federal government’s dedicated HR agency failed to sufficiently grapple with past OPM policy or the wealth of research finding that forced distribution models for performance appraisals is counterproductive to organizational health.
Defense workers' morale has plunged under Trump, survey finds
Only 9% of Army civilians found Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s leadership motivating.
Survey of 11,000 feds underscores ‘layer cake of trauma’
A new survey from the Partnership for Public Service, aimed at replicating the cancelled 2025 Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey, reveals just 7% of federal workers believe their political leaders engender high motivation.
Performance prioritized over seniority in proposed RIF rule, OSC says
COMMENTARY | The Office of Special Counsel says proposed reduction-in-force changes would give more weight to employee performance and offers its own perspective on how agencies might apply the new rules.
Updated
OPM proposes new layoff rules emphasizing performance and reducing employee protections
Since a draft of the new policy began circulating last fall, federal regulators expanded those excluded from agency reduction in force rules to include all career federal workers in the government’s excepted service.
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House Dems want to know why retirees aren’t getting physical tax documents from OPM
Nine House members inquired about reports that constituents have not received physical copies of their 1099-R forms and have had difficulty contacting the federal HR agency to request them.
GAO report offers new details on the workers agencies lost last year
The government watchdog agency found that nearly 144,000 federal workers were accepted into the deferred resignation program in the first half of 2025.
OPM formally proposes limiting top performance ratings for federal workers
The plan to institute a forced or “standardized” distribution of performance ratings upon the federal workforce has survived mostly unchanged from a December draft that drew near universal criticism from agency officials in internal deliberations last month.
OPM clarifies that agencies should not violate court orders to terminate union contracts
A memo last week tasking agencies with pushing forward implementation of a pair of executive orders aimed at stripping two-thirds of the federal workforce of their collective bargaining rights briefly aroused fears that they would violate a series of court orders.
OPM finalizes Biden-era reg revamping federal hiring of college students
The Trump administration made only minor tweaks to a 2021 interim rule aimed at encouraging agencies to hire students still at school to part-time jobs and eventually convert them to permanent posts.
OPM instructs agencies to terminate union contracts potentially in violation of court orders
A smattering of agencies implicated in President Trump’s executive orders barring labor representation for two-thirds of the federal workforce had held off on formally terminating their collective bargaining agreements due to injunctions barring the edicts’ implementation.
OPM seeks to consolidate power over employee appeals in new regulations
Under a pair of regulatory proposals published this week, the federal government’s dedicated HR agency seeks to wrest appeals of suitability and reduction in force decisions from the Merit Systems Protection Board.
How to attract tech workers to civil service? Give them credit!
COMMENTARY | OPM may already have the tools it needs to make the federal government an attractive destination for tech talent. And what it doesn't have should not be that hard to get.
Trump admin moves to finalize return of Schedule F
Officials estimate that around 50,000 federal workers will be stripped of their civil service protections beginning in around a month, as unions, employee associations and good government groups decry their positions’ politicization.
OPM’s challenge of creating a high-performance culture
COMMENTARY | To help federal agencies operate like modern high-performance organizations requires an understanding of their current barriers and an importance placed on the workforce's value.
Agencies internally pan OPM’s bid to overhaul federal performance management
At the White House’s request, the federal government’s dedicated HR agency has updated its proposal limiting how many employees agencies can rate as above average to narrow the methods by which federal workers can challenge a perceived unfair rating.
‘Harder days ahead in 2026’: Good government group predicts increased political interference in the civil service in Trump’s second year
A new analysis from the Partnership for Public Service looks at the effects, so far, of the Trump administration’s reforms to the federal workforce and what they could portend.
How to institutionalize OPM reforms?
COMMENTARY | OPM Director Scott Kupor's civil service reform plans have thus far been a mix of some good, some bad and some ugly. There's a path forward for a future administration to still preserve the good, while possibly ditching the rest.
Probationary appeal rights under further threat by OPM proposal
Under proposed rules issued last week, newly hired federal workers would no longer be able to appeal adverse actions to the Merit Systems Protection Board.
After scrapping it in 2025, the Trump administration is reinstating awards program for senior executives
The Senior Executive Association praised the return of the presidential rank awards.
