OPM uses conservative influencers on college tour to recruit young workers

Office of Personnel Management Director Scott Kupor is in the midst of a college tour to recruit early-career workers into the federal government, which is one of his top priorities. The underrepresentation of younger people in the civil service is a longstanding issue that worsened over President Donald Trump’s first year in office, as many new agency staffers lost their jobs during the mass firing of employees who were still in their probationary periods.  

Several of Kupor’s stops so far, however, have featured conservative figures who don’t have experience working for the government. 

For example, on Thursday, Kupor is visiting the University of Austin in Texas. The college, which was founded by right-leaning individuals and started its first academic year in 2024, is not yet accredited; although, the state has authorized it to award bachelor’s degrees in liberal studies. According to its website, the school is completely donor-funded and does not charge tuition to its roughly 150 students. 

Kupor will share the stage with Joe Lonsdale, a billionaire GOP donor who served as the first chairman of the University of Austin and co-founded several companies, including Palantir. The event is hosted by The David Network, which describes itself as “a community of over 5,000 conservative students, alumni and professionals who drive change in America’s leading institutions and industries.” 

Rep. James Walkinshaw, D-Va., co-chair and founder of the Federal Workforce Caucus, criticized Kupor’s college tour in a statement to Government Executive, particularly over Lonsdale’s planned appearance. 

“The federal government and OPM desperately need to improve the recruitment and retention of early career talent,” he said. “Sadly, [Kupor is] more interested in hanging out with billionaire ideologues than he is in rebuilding the federal workforce that Trump and the Department of Government Efficiency have decimated.”

OPM spokeswoman Kiki Nyoh, on the other hand, said in response to a request for comment that: “This visit is about one thing: showing students that public service is an opportunity to serve their country, build a meaningful career, and help shape the future of government. We welcome the opportunity to have that conversation with students at UATX and campuses across the country.”

Kupor’s first stop on his college tour was at the University of Florida on Sept. 15, where he had a fireside chat with right-wing commentator Benny Johnson. In some of Johnson’s recent videos, he muses if Trump is using alien technology in Iran and bemoans the decreased percentage of white people in Texas. 

The student newspaper for the school, which has more than 60,000 students, reported that about 60 people attended the event with Kupor and Johnson. 

Earlier this year, a video created as part of the launch of OPM’s Early Career Talent Network featured country singer Kid Rock, a Trump supporter whose peak popularity was in the 2000s. 

Trump has removed civil service job protections for about 8,000 agency staffers by placing them in a job category called Schedule Policy/Career. Critics contend that the new classification is an attempt to install more people in government based on alignment with the administration rather than merit.