Federal Hiring Freeze Extended; OPM Deemphasizes Essay Importance in Hiring
The Trump Administration extended the federal hiring freeze for another three months, with the freeze extending through October 15, 2025, in the next fiscal year.
The hiring freeze was first initiated the day the president took office, and was extended for a first time in April.
There are exemptions for positions related to immigration enforcement, national security, or public safety. Those include jobs like Veterans Affairs medical personnel, food safety inspectors, firefighters, air traffic controllers, and National Weather Service employees.
Also exempted are political appointees hired through Schedule A or C of the excepted service, as well as any other non-career senior executives.
Contracting outside the federal government to “circumvent the intent of this memorandum is prohibited.”
Any hiring that does occur must be approved by presidentially appointed leadership.
“This ensures the Federal workforce remains focused on essential functions and fully aligned with administration priorities,” stated a White House fact sheet.
OPM Walks Back Hiring Essay Importance
Meanwhile, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) quietly walked back part of its Merit Hiring Plan, which required potential federal employees to answer four essay questions, including ones on how they would help advance President Trump’s executive orders and policy priorities.
Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) urged the U.S. Office of Special Counsel to take action against that particular question, saying it violated hiring laws that prohibit discrimination on the basis of “non-performance factors” and political affiliation.
Now, OPM has responded, saying in an email to human capital officers and human resources directors that hiring managers should “deemphasize” such essay questions and instead treat them as supplemental background in the application similar to a cover letter.
“Answers to these questions are not scored or rated,” OPM wrote in guidance that was not widely published.
The move was applauded by PEER.
“These changes may transform OPM’s use of the essays from an illegal screening tactic to a silly waste of time,” said PEER General Counsel Joanna Citron Day. “Asking federal job applicants how they feel about Trump has no place in the merit system. Such questions are highly inappropriate.”