Senate Effort to Reinstate Presidential Management Fellows Program
Two Senate Democrats are trying to bring back the Presidential Management Fellows (PMF) Program, introducing legislation to codify the program into law.
The introduction of the Training Aspiring Leaders Emerging Now to Serve (TALENTS) Act comes after President Trump ordered the termination of the PMF program, which had been around since 1977 and served to bring young talent with advanced degrees into the federal government talent pipeline.
Senators Andy Kim (D-NJ) and Jeff Merkley (D-OR), both former PMF Fellows themselves, introduced the TALENTS Act.
“The PMF program has for years operated under both Republican and Democratic Presidents to lift up merit and align skills with opportunity. Even in these divided times, I hope we can show strong bipartisan support for the importance of talent in government and the need to codify this important program in legislation,” said Senator Kim.
The legislation would do the following:
Codify the PMF program to ensure that the “federal government can continue to attract outstanding individuals from various academic disciplines and career paths who are interested in and committed to excellence in the leadership and management of public policies and programs.”
Ensure that Fellow are provided more than 80 hours of training per year and have access to mentoring, leadership, and agency-specific activities.
Provide pathways into permanent or term positions once fellowships are completed.
Codify Federal Executive Boards (FEBs) in 28 metropolitan areas.
Require the head of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to submit a report to Congress every three years on the program.
The bill has support from various public service groups.
“The TALENTS Act recognizes that our government’s ability to develop the next generation of federal leaders is essential for its capacity to deliver for the American people,” said Partnership for Public Service President Max Stier.
“The American people deserve public servants who are sought after for their skills, abilities, and commitment to public service – something the critical TALENTS Act prioritizes,” said the Presidential Management Alumni Association.
And the program itself was highly competitive before its termination. For the 2024 class, 825 finalists were selected from 7,193 applicants, with the finalists representing more than 100 academic degree programs.
President Trump ended PMF in a February executive order designed to “reduce the scope of the federal bureaucracy.”
