OPM Nomination Also Awaits

Another unfinished piece of business involves confirming a new director of OPM; that post has been filled on only an acting basis since former director John Berry’s term expired in mid-April. Katherine Archuleta, a former Obama campaign national political director and a former official in the Labor, Transportation and Energy departments among other positions, was nominated in late May but has not had even a hearing. The extended vacancy comes at a time when agencies have been looking to OPM for guidance on carrying out furloughs; OPM is preparing to launch a major new form of retirement, phased retirement; needs to put out specific policies and procedures in a host of benefits areas affected by the recent decision in the Defense of Marriage Act case; and is continuing to face pressures from Congress and elsewhere to address the backlog of retirement applications. The OPM director also would be the point person on the administration’s budgetary proposals affecting federal workers, including potential substantial changes in the FEHB program that have drawn little attention since first being proposed just about the time Berry left.