Trump's Fresh Approach to Civil Service Recruitment: Quality or Counterproductive?

On May 29, 2025, the White House and the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) jointly released a new Merit Hiring Plan, aiming to modernize federal recruitment processes, improve diversity and inclusion, and enhance the efficiency of hiring to meet evolving government workforce needs.

The strategy of the new hiring plan is not new, as the nation moved away from the spoils system towards a merit-based civil service with the passage of the Pendleton Act in 1883. This time, the plan appears to aim at delegating hiring decisions to experts from specific companies like X or Tesla. Agencies are required to identify a designee, likely a senior-level political appointee, to oversee the selection process.

Under the new plan, agencies are mandated to abandon collecting demographic recruitment and workforce data. Instead, they are required to add new assessment/essay questions that will evidence support for the president's executive orders and priorities. However, the politically motivated assessment/essay questions may not withstand legal scrutiny as a valid employment practice.

The new requirements may drag the nation back to the spoils era and raise legal and implementation challenges for agencies. In the early 1970s, President Nixon sought to fire civil servants and replace them with his loyalists, an attempt that was stopped by a bipartisan response in Congress. The former Chief Human Capital Officer, OPM attorney, and Merit Systems Protection Board vice chairman believes the new plan has questionable legal and policy flaws.

To address these challenges, the CHCO Council collectively worked on creating shared certificates for agency hiring. They also established talent teams within agencies to share best practices. The U.S. Digital Service provided help for SME hiring at the Department of Interior. Improved background screenings and leveraging existing assessments through USA Hire were also implemented.

The proposal made to collapse all appointing authorities into one called "The Merit Service" could potentially streamline the hiring process. However, the new political hiring officials may not be familiar with federal hiring statutes and regulations, which could lead to abuses. HR specialists or agency attorneys who attempt to prevent these abuses may be considered whistleblowers.

Teddy Roosevelt, prior to becoming president, served on the Civil Service Commission and championed merit hiring and due process for civil servants. The Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 created the Merit System Principles and the Prohibited Personnel Practices, and separated out oversight powers by creating independent agencies such as the MSPB, OPM, Federal Labor Relations Authority, and the Office of Special Counsel.

In the first several months of the current administration, there were illegal and inhumane firings of thousands of civil servants, along with the removals of independent agency heads, board members, commissioners, and inspectors general. This proposal aims to create a more transparent and efficient hiring process, but concerns about its legality and potential for abuse remain.

The Merit Hiring Plan is a significant shift in federal hiring practices. As it unfolds, it will be crucial to monitor its implementation and impact on the civil service.