Federal Hiring Rules Tightened Further, Stress Authority of Agency Hiring Committees

The Trump Administration issued new guidance for hiring federal employees. It puts an emphasis on using strategic hiring committees before bringing in an employee and emphasizes agency accountability in the hiring process. 

In a joint memo, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) say the guidance will help agencies better implement President Trump’s executive order on accountability in federal hiring to ensure that “federal hiring remains cost-effective, mission-focused, and aligned with administration priorities.”

Strategic Hiring Committees

The memo tells agencies to have hiring committees in place by Monday, November 17, 2025. The committees will approve the creation or filling of each available position in the agency. Each agency committee must include the deputy agency head and chief of staff, although the roles may be filled with another non-career official with approval. 

Agencies also have the flexibility to combine vacancy requests for submission to the committee. 

Agencies are told that the committee should use “independent judgment” when it comes to approving a hire and should not “routinely defer to the recommendations of others.” The hirings must also be compliant with the administration’s Merit Hiring Plan, which it issued in May.

Accountability Stressed

The memo stresses accountability as agencies are ordered to submit annual hiring plans. 

“For the first time (possibly ever), agency heads will report annually to OPM and our partners at the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) on their overall personnel management and hiring plans,” wrote OPM Director Scott Kupor in an accompanying blog post. 

Agency leaders will have to report the following:

·       How their personnel resources map to their objectives

·       Critical hiring needs to meet these objectives

·       Opportunities to reduce spending

·       The optimal mix of full-time employees vs contractors

·       How they are enforcing accountability and performance management

Unions Sue Over Essay Question

Meanwhile, three labor unions sued the Trump Administration over an essay question on job applications about a candidate’s loyalty to the Trump Administration. 

The unions claim that the inclusion of a "loyalty question” on federal job applications runs counter to the nonpartisan nature of the civil service. 

The lawsuit was filed by the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), and National Association of Government Employees (NAGE).

OPM Director Kupor denied the unions' allegations and said the hiring plan and essay question "strengthens" the career civil service.