OPM reduced emphasis on the 'preferred EO essay' after encountering a legal dispute
The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has announced a significant change in its 'merit' hiring plan, following challenges by employee groups to a politicized new test. In May, the OPM unveiled a reform plan that included a series of four essay questions for most job applicants. However, the controversial essay questions, asking about helping to advance the president's executive orders and policy priorities, have raised concerns about discrimination and political affiliation.
Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) has been at the forefront of these criticisms, claiming that the essay prompt violates hiring laws. PEER's General Counsel, Joanna Citron Day, stated that these changes may transform OPM's use of the essays from an illegal screening tactic to a silly waste of time. Day also expressed her disapproval of questions asking about applicants' political views, stating that asking federal job applicants how they feel about a specific president has no place in the merit system and such questions are highly inappropriate.
In response to these concerns, the OPM has clarified that answers to these questions are not scored or rated, and should be treated like a cover letter. Hiring managers and agency leaders or designees have been urged to use the essay questions in accordance with merit system principles and be mindful of prohibited personnel practices. If applicants elect not to answer the questions, they will not be disqualified or screened out.
PEER applauded OPM's "retreat" from requiring a loyalty test from federal job applicants. The review of essay answers will be part of an application packet forwarded to the manager and later to agency leadership if the candidate is recommended for selection. The answers to the four essay questions will be reviewed only by the hiring manager and agency leadership.
In an email to agency chief human capital officers and human resources directors, OPM further urged officials to deemphasize applicants' responses to the essay questions when evaluating their candidacies. The person who initiated the policy change for evaluating federal civil service applicants based on essay questions is not explicitly named in the search results, but the change was announced by the Federal Ministry of Justice and Consumer Protection (BMJV) or the federal government, with the law draft presented on September 3, 2025.
The OPM has also given agencies the discretion to exempt jobs from the essay questions. PEER, however, has called on the U.S. Office of Special Counsel to take action against the essay questionnaire's deployment, expressing concerns that the questions could still be used as a de facto screening tool, undermining the fairness and impartiality of the federal hiring process.
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