The Trump administration has canceled this year’s Presidential Rank Awards, the top honors for career employees in the SES and equivalent levels.
The announcement was made with little explanation and comes four months after OPM had solicited agencies to make nominations, saying that “we are looking for extraordinary leaders who have made significant contributions in delivering mission critical solutions, providing excellent customer service and being good stewards of taxpayers’ dollars.”
The Senior Executives Association decried the cancellation, saying that given the new responsibilities required for response to the pandemic, “Now more than ever, we should be recognizing the individuals who have made these heroic efforts possible,” it said. The monetary aspect further plays a “critical role in cultivating skilled federal leaders,” it said, given that many could make higher salaries outside of government.
There are two categories of awards, distinguished and meritorious, with one grouping for SES members and another for senior level/senior scientific or technical employees, commonly called senior professionals. The “distinguished” award, worth 35 percent of base pay, can be granted to no more than 1 percent of an agency’s employees in such positions and the “meritorious” award, worth 20 percent of base pay, to no more than 5 percent.
Amid the “sequestration” budget limits in 2013 the Obama administration had made that year’s awards cashless but the following year reinstated the cash component.
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