Trump's proposed federal employment strategy may aim to rectify existing issues, yet could potentially exacerbate the situation further

The Trump administration has rolled out a new hiring plan for the federal service, with the goal of ensuring that only the most talented, capable, and patriotic Americans are hired. The plan, developed by the White House Office of Personnel Management (OPM), aims to end self-assessments by applicants and make greater use of validated tools to assess them.

However, the plan has raised concerns as it misses several important issues. For instance, it lacks a comprehensive strategy for finding the best recruits, defining the skills the government needs for specific positions, and producing a journey map for moving quickly from a vacancy to a successful new hire.

The third-way approach, which the administration has adopted, aims to recreate the merit system for the 21st century, focusing on building government's capacity to get done what the people want to get done. This approach seeks to avoid the pathologies of the right and the left, and instead, puts mission at the very center of government.

The plan, however, has been criticised for its political overtones. It screens applicants for ideology more than merit, requiring them to write four essays that include explaining how they'd advance the president's priorities. This could potentially lead to coercion from partisan political purposes, according to some critics.

The plan's essays are also seen as easy to game, according to an author who has graded college essays for 45 years. The average time to hire a new federal employee is 98 days, more than twice as long as in the private sector. The plan does not provide a detailed work plan to reduce this time.

The hiring plan conflicts with the nonpartisan civil service that Congress created in 1883, as it creates a political standard. The right wants to shrink government, seeking to cut off its brain and its arms and legs, while the left wants to build a bigger, more robust government, but has tended to focus more on the how than on the what.

Interestingly, a 2013 survey found that more Americans approved of Genghis Khan than Congress, highlighting the need for reform in the federal hiring process. The left has tended to circle the wagons around the status quo, without stopping to think about whether federal employees could do their jobs better.

The third-way approach does not provide specific details about how it would recreate the merit system for the twenty-first century. It aims to focus on the mission, without specifying the methods to achieve it. The right, on the other hand, wants to cut many programs that people like and want, while the left wants to create new programs without figuring out how best to make them work.

The Trump administration's hiring plan for the federal service is a significant step towards transforming the merit system for the 21st century. However, it faces challenges in addressing key issues such as finding the best recruits, reducing hiring times, and maintaining a nonpartisan civil service. The plan's success will depend on its ability to balance these concerns while focusing on the mission at hand.