OPM believes that many of the current career reserved positions across the federal government are not the sort of technical positions appropriate for career reserved status. Image: DCStockPhotography/Shutterstock.com
By: FEDweek StaffOPM has told agencies to review the numbers of their SES positions that have been reserved for career employees with an eye to giving themselves “maximum flexibility in opting for non-career officials to carry out presidential priorities.”
By law, at least 3,571 SES positions are reserved for career employees, yet “Over the past four years, without apparent good reason, that number of SES positions designated as career reserved has grown rapidly and is now roughly double the minimum,” says a memo on chcoc.gov.
“To be sure, some positions throughout government are statutorily designated career reserved. And a number of current career reserved positions are for job duties which are ministerial, or which might benefit from continuity across political administrations. OPM believes that many of the current career reserved positions across the federal government are not the sort of technical positions appropriate for career reserved status,” it says.
“And there are even career reserved positions at the assistant secretary level whose peers in similar functions elsewhere in government are presidentially appointed with Senate confirmation. In these situations, major policies of the President or agency head are filtered through appointees with reduced democratic accountability,” it says.
It tells agencies to by March 24 review whether positions designated as career reserved are “necessary to ensure impartiality, or the public’s confidence in the impartiality” and submit a request to OPM to redesignate those not meeting the standard.
The memo is the latest of the Trump administration’s moves to give the SES cadre of about 8,800—which is about 90 percent career—a more political orientation.
OPM earlier told agencies to: consider changing any CIO positions filled by senior executives that currently are held by career SESers be opened to political appointees; terminate their existing boards for hiring and evaluating SES members and assign noncareer officials to them; and to include in performance evaluation standards whether they “faithfully administered the law and advanced the President’s policy priorities.”
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