Latest news with #VinceHaley
Indian Express
2 days ago
- Politics
- Indian Express
‘Must serve the pleasure of President': Trump administration to prioritise ‘patriotic Americans' for federal jobs
As part of a broader push to shrink the federal workforce, the Trump administration has unveiled a new hiring strategy aimed at ensuring that new government employees are 'patriotic Americans' committed to advancing the president's agenda, Politico reported. Outlined in a memo released Thursday by the White House and the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), the new directives mark a sharp departure from traditional federal hiring practices. The 'merit hiring plan,' as it's called, was the result of an executive order issued on Trump's first day in office to overhaul the federal recruitment system. According to Politico, the plan stipulates that only 'the most talented, capable and patriotic Americans' should be hired. It includes new essay requirements for job applicants at the GS-5 pay grade and above. Candidates must explain how they would uphold the Constitution, improve government efficiency, advance Trump's executive orders, and demonstrate work ethic. 'The overly complex Federal hiring system overemphasized discriminatory 'equity' quotas and too often resulted in the hiring of unfit, unskilled bureaucrats,' the memo states, as reported by Politico. It was authored by Vince Haley, assistant to the president for domestic policy, and Charles Ezell, acting director of OPM. The administration, long critical of career civil servants, has accused some of working against Trump's policy goals. To address this, the memo says applicants will be required to show personal commitment to the president's priorities. It also takes aim at current recruitment channels, saying they lean too heavily on 'elite universities and credentials.' As reported by Politico, the hiring effort will now focus on recruits from 'state and land-grant universities, religious colleges and universities, community colleges, high schools, trade and technical schools, homeschooling groups, faith-based groups, American Legion, 4-H youth programs, and the military, veterans, and law enforcement communities.' The plan also bars agencies from considering race, sex, or national origin in hiring or promotion decisions, and directs them to stop using demographic data or underrepresentation metrics. Agencies are instructed to 'cease using statistics on race, sex, ethnicity or national origin, or the broader concept of 'underrepresentation' of certain groups,' according to the memo seen by Politico. To accelerate hiring, the administration is pushing to reduce the overall time to hire to under 80 days across federal departments. Additionally, a second memo targets reforms within the Senior Executive Service (SES), the top tier of career federal employees. Trump, who has long insisted that SES officials 'must serve at the pleasure of the President,' is seeking to overhaul how senior leaders are selected and developed. That memo criticises the current SES hiring process as 'broken' and 'insular,' claiming it has produced executives who 'engage in unauthorized disclosure of Executive Branch deliberations, violate the constitutional rights of Americans, refuse to implement policy priorities, or perform their duties inefficiently or negligently.' According to Politico, the administration is also scrapping 'unlawful 'diversity, equity and inclusion' (DEI) criteria' from SES hiring. Future selections will be based on merit, competence, and alignment with executive priorities. To support this shift, OPM will launch an '80-hour intensive fee-based aspiring executive development program,' designed to train future senior leaders in line with Trump's vision. The program will be 'grounded in the Constitution, laws, and Founding ideals of our government, and will provide training on President Trump's Executive Orders,' the memo states. As reported by Politico, the training will equip future federal executives with 'the skills, knowledge, technical expertise, and strategic mindset necessary to excel in senior leadership roles.'
E&E News
3 days ago
- Business
- E&E News
Trump admin to prioritize ‘patriotic Americans' for fed jobs
As President Donald Trump moves to slash the size of the federal workforce, his administration unveiled a plan to ensure that any new hires are 'patriotic Americans' who vow to advance the president's policy priorities. The White House and the agency that serves as the government's human resources arm Thursday released directives for departments to use when recruiting employees in a memo that represents a dramatic shift in federal hiring procedures. The administration's 'merit hiring plan' comes after Trump ordered a revamp to the federal hiring process on his first day in office. The resulting plan issued this week says it aims to ensure that 'only the most talented, capable and patriotic Americans' are hired by the government. Advertisement The 'overly complex Federal hiring system overemphasized discriminatory 'equity' quotas and too often resulted in the hiring of unfit, unskilled bureaucrats,' says the memo authored by Vince Haley, assistant to the president for domestic policy, and Charles Ezell, the acting director of the Office of Personnel Management.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Federal Job Seekers Will Be Quizzed on Trump's Executive Orders
(Bloomberg) — The Trump administration is adding four essay questions to applications for civil service jobs, asking applicants about their favorite executive orders and their commitment to government efficiency. NYC Congestion Toll Brings In $216 Million in First Four Months Now With Colorful Blocks, Tirana's Pyramid Represents a Changing Albania NY Wins Order Against US Funding Freeze in Congestion Fight The Economic Benefits of Paying Workers to Move NY Congestion Pricing Is Likely to Stay Until Year End During Court Case The essay requirements apply even to relatively lower-level jobs starting at the GS-5 pay scale or above — positions that can begin at base salaries as low as $32,357. Those jobs include nursing assistants, park rangers and firefighters. The new questions, outlined in a memo from the Office of Personnel Management on Thursday, include ones that could give insight into the applicant's political philosophy for civil service jobs that are supposed to be nonpartisan. Among them: 'How has your commitment to the Constitution and the founding principles of the United States inspired you to pursue this role within the Federal government? Provide a concrete example from professional, academic, or personal experience.' Another question, about how a job seeker would advance the president's executive orders or policy initiatives — is similar to a question asked of applicants for top political jobs as a loyalty test. It asks applicants to 'Identify one or two relevant Executive Orders or policy initiatives that are significant to you, and explain how you would help implement them if hired.' Two other questions ask how applicants would improve government efficiency and about their personal work ethic. Responses must be 200 words or fewer and the memo seeks to prevent any cheating. 'Applicants will be required to certify that they are using their own words, and did not use a consultant or AI,' the memo says, referring to artificial intelligence. The 30-page memo, from White House Domestic Policy Council Director Vince Haley and OPM acting director Charles Ezell, implements President Donald Trump's executive order ending diversity, equity and inclusion in federal hiring. The order also required that the government prioritize hiring people 'committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government, passionate about the ideals of our American republic, and committed to upholding the rule of law and the United States Constitution.' But Trump is also reshaping the US government's workforce in other ways, overhauling the civil service system by giving him power to directly hire and fire as many as 50,000 jobs previously reserved for career federal employees. 'What we've seen is an overwhelming effort to cow the workforce and frankly ensure that there's a loyalty to the president of the day more than anything else,' said Max Stier, president of the Partnership for Public Service, a nonpartisan group focused on improving the federal workforce. Asking the new questions is 'deeply problematic,' he said. 'Bluntly, it's an almost partisan and ideological overlay without understanding the responsibilities they're hiring for.' For example, there's no reason why a dental hygienist at the Department of Veterans Affairs should have an understanding of Trump's executive orders, Stier said. Beyond the content of the questions, Stier said adding four essay questions to an already burdensome federal hiring process can only make it more difficult for the government to hire the best workers, calling it 'a recipe for dysfunction.' But OPM says the questions aren't much different from those any employer would ask to make sure that a prospective employee fits with company culture. 'It is a best practice in hiring to ask all applicants the same questions,' said OPM spokeswoman McLaurine Pinover. 'The answers can then be evaluated by the hiring manager and agency leadership to evaluate whether the candidate would be a good fit for the role.' The federal personnel agency said the plan's overall goal is to reduce the length of the hiring process to less than 80 days and create 'a federal workforce that reflects the highest standards of merit and service.' The memo also implements new skill-based assessments, consisting of at least two tests of technical skills for many jobs, and eliminates unnecessary college degree requirements for many positions. YouTube Is Swallowing TV Whole, and It's Coming for the Sitcom Mark Zuckerberg Loves MAGA Now. Will MAGA Ever Love Him Back? Millions of Americans Are Obsessed With This Japanese Barbecue Sauce Inside the First Stargate AI Data Center How Coach Handbags Became a Gen Z Status Symbol ©2025 Bloomberg L.P. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
