President Trump in the Rose Garden, Jan 2019. The first Trump administration proposed abolishing OPM while moving its policy functions into OMB. Image: Michael Candelori/Shutterstock.com
A flurry of executive orders and other actions, some of them directly impacting the federal workforce, is expected with the return next week of former President Trump to the White House.
Those likely will include not only reinstating many policies from his first term that were revoked by the Biden administration but also revoking in return many of the policies Biden put in place.
Among the policies being watched for quick reinstatement are the those under three 2018 pro-management executive orders on disciplinary practices and dealings with unions–and the 2020 order creating the excepted service Schedule F (see related stories).
The 2018 orders were delayed by a lawsuit that resulted in an injunction against many of the key provisions; an appeals court later overturned that ban but by the time the first Trump term ended, some provisions remained tied up in legal disputes while others were put in place but so late that they had little practical impact.
OPM also was ordered to change RIF rules to elevate performance ratings over veterans’ preference and years of service in the order of retention. The Biden administration recently issued a notice stressing that while OPM proposed such rules during the first Trump term, they were not finalized and that the Biden administration had formally withdrawn the notice of proposed rule-making. That would require the rule-making process to start again from the beginning.
The first Trump administration also proposed abolishing OPM while moving its policy functions into OMB and moving the its insurance, retirement and agency-support services to GSA. That shift, which would require a change in law, was thwarted when Congress required an outside study first, a study that recommended strongly against it. There has been no indication so far whether the second Trump administration will again pursue that idea.
However, it appears likely that a directive is forthcoming regarding telework, which picked up during the last year of the first term after the Coronavirus pandemic broke out, and which remains at elevated levels compared to previously.
A directive to increase onsite work by union-represented employees would run up against terms in many labor-management contracts allowing for certain levels of telework. That would not be as much of a consideration, though, for ordering more onsite work by managers and others not represented by a union.
Shutdown Meter Ticking Up a Bit
Judge Backs Suit against Firings of Probationers, but Won’t Order Reinstatements
Focus Turns to Senate on Effort to Block Trump Order against Unions
TSP Adds Detail to Upcoming Roth Conversion Feature
White House to Issue Rules on RIF, Disciplinary Policy Changes
Hill Dems Question OPM on PSHB Program After IG Slams Readiness
See also,
How Do Age and Years of Service Impact My Federal Retirement
The Best Ages for Federal Employees to Retire