Originally published White House pushes for greater OPM authority over federal employees’ suitability on by https://federalnewsnetwork.com/management/2025/03/white-house-pushes-for-greater-opm-authority-over-federal-employees-suitability/ at Federal News Network
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The White House is looking to expand the Office of Personnel Management’s role in deciding whether federal employees are fit to continue working for the government.
A memo from President Donald Trump last week directed OPM to rework its suitability and fitness regulations to give more authority to OPM in the process, as well as expand the reasons federal employees can be fired “based on post-appointment conduct.”
Once OPM issues new final regulations, the White House said the OPM director would have the final word in determining the suitability of federal employees. OPM would also be the deciding factor in any personnel actions related to suitability, including the removal of employees from their jobs.
“If the director of OPM issues specific instructions as to separation or other corrective action … the head of the agency concerned shall comply with the director of OPM’s instructions within five workdays of the final decision,” the memo states.
Based on current regulations, OPM already has the authority to determine an individual’s suitability for federal service and can take action if it deems someone unfit for a role. But as the process currently works, agencies themselves — rather than OPM — typically determine employees’ fitness for their jobs and take any necessary actions.
Kevin Owen, a partner at Gilbert Employment Law, viewed Trump’s new memo as an effort to politicize career federal employees and yet another step toward downsizing the federal workforce.
“It would empower OPM to have agencies remove employees on suitability grounds, especially ones that are currently on the rolls,” Owen said in an interview. “What the suitability guidelines are likely going to be are a way to set up a litmus test, as to which employees would meet the president’s standards for being in federal service.”
In most cases, agencies make use of suitability and fitness regulations during the hiring process. It’s much less common for the regulations to come into play for current federal employees, according to Jim Eisenmann, partner at Alden Law Group. However, the White House memo emphasizes OPM’s authority “post-appointment,” particularly targeting current federal employees.
“I think that the ‘post-appointment’ aspect is the big issue here,” Eisenmann said in an interview. “Normally, the suitability issues are dealing with whether to hire someone in the first place.”
The new suitability standards won’t take effect until OPM issues final regulations, and it’s unclear what those will include. Though difficult to predict, Eisenmann said the anticipated changes may be a way for the White House and OPM to circumvent the typical delegation to agencies and have OPM take personnel actions directly.
OPM declined to comment on the memo and referred all questions to the White House. The White House did not respond to Federal News Network’s request for comment.
“Suitability and fitness” refer to an agency’s determination of whether an employee has the necessary “character or conduct” to perform their work, according to federal regulations. The regulations apply to positions in both the competitive and excepted service, as well as career Senior Executive Service positions.
Current federal regulations list nine specific factors to determine an employees’ suitability, including criminal or violent conduct, excessive alcohol use, and deception or fraud. The current regulations state that additional considerations can apply when assessing an employees’ suitability, such as the nature of a specific federal position, or the recency of any conduct issues.
Legal experts, however, said the new White House memo appears to be directing OPM to come up with even more reasons to find federal employees “unsuitable” to continue in their jobs.
“What may be happening in the new White House order is that it doesn’t limit [suitability standards] to those nine factors,” Eisenmann said. “This seems to expand OPM’s authority, to some extent, on the factors to look at to make these determinations.”
The memo comes as the Trump administration faces multiple legal battles on the recent governmentwide terminations of probationary federal employees. Tens of thousands of employees who were previously fired are now being reinstated, following two federal judges’ rulings that OPM does not have the authority to direct agencies to fire their employees.
Eisenmann said the litigation may be one reason behind the White House’s new memo. But he emphasized that OPM’s actions in directing agencies to fire probationary employees are entirely distinct from any authorities the agency has in suitability determinations.
“Unlike suitability determinations, OPM doesn’t have the authority in those circumstances to direct an agency to fire anyone,” Eisenmann said.
And based on the other actions the Trump administration has already taken on the federal workforce, Owen said the upcoming OPM regulations may stretch even further.
“What happens if they start imposing suitability requirements that are restrictive of employees’ free speech or political donations, or charitable donations, or the fact that they’re married to a Green Card holder?” Owen said. “There could be a whole host of other concerns that could be politicizing the federal service further, or imposing certain doctrinal views on the way the federal civil service is made up. Then it’s no longer necessarily a federal civil service based on expertise and merit, but rather on allegiances and political views.”
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Originally published White House pushes for greater OPM authority over federal employees’ suitability on by https://federalnewsnetwork.com/management/2025/03/white-house-pushes-for-greater-opm-authority-over-federal-employees-suitability/ at Federal News Network
Originally published Federal News Network
