Federal job applicants will soon be quizzed on their favorite Trump administration policy as part of the hiring process, according to the Office of Personnel Management’s new “merit hiring plan.”
“How would you help advance the president’s executive orders and policy priorities in this role?” asks one of four essay questions that job seekers must answer if they are seeking any federal position GS-5 or above. “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.”
The federal government’s dedicated HR agency published the plan via a joint memo from Vince Haley, director of President Trump’s Domestic Policy Council and acting OPM Director Charles Ezell. The document is a hodgepodge of bipartisan reforms developed under both Trump and former President Biden to accelerate and improve the hiring process, alongside plans to eradicate longstanding efforts to make the federal workforce more reflective of the American populace.
The aforementioned essay questionnaire, which will be required as part of the hiring process for most federal positions, also queries job applicants on their patriotism, “commitment to the Constitution” and the country’s “founding principles,” how they would improve government efficiency and about their overall work ethic.
But one federal HR official said that taken together, this plan will make life harder for hiring managers and applicants alike.
“Everything in it will make it more difficult to hire, not less,” they said. “How the f– do you define if someone is patriotic?”
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