The Wall Street Journal reports that a key factor in retaining jobs for US civil servants will be their “faithful administration of the president’s policies.”
According to the Wall Street Journal, a US government agency will begin evaluating federal employees based on their allegiance to President Donald Trump.
The Office of Personnel Management (OPM), the federal government’s HR department, is tasked with spearheading the evaluation program, the WSJ reported on Saturday.
Memos from OPM Acting Director Chuck Ezell, reviewed by the WSJ, indicate that senior civil servants will be assessed on their “faithful administration of the law and the president’s policies.”
The report stated that the documents identified advancing Trump’s agenda as the “most critical element” in evaluating the performance of these officials.
The new performance plan is expected to be implemented across US government agencies by the start of fiscal year 2026, the report added.
The WSJ noted that while civil servants have been graded before, past evaluations considered factors like business acumen, leadership skills, coalition-building abilities, and work outcomes.
Under the previous Biden administration, staffing policy emphasized diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). Critics argued that DEI initiatives often prioritized identity over merit, leading to accusations of lowered standards and division. Numerous companies, including Walt Disney, JPMorgan Chase, Amazon, and Google, facing similar criticisms and legal challenges, have since reduced or eliminated their DEI programs.
Shortly after taking office in January, Trump signed executive orders aimed at eliminating DEI initiatives, which he described as “radical,” from the federal government, its contractors, and grantees.
The WSJ reported that the OPM has already started approving positions that other federal agencies are seeking to fill, in what it characterized as an effort by the Trump administration “to consolidate control over the hiring and firing of federal workers.”
According to the report, the Office of Personnel Management will also continue government downsizing efforts initiated by Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and SpaceX. Musk announced earlier this week that he would reduce his involvement as head of the US Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to focus on his business ventures.
The world’s richest man explained that the “major work” to establish DOGE has been completed. However, Musk clarified that he will not completely abandon his work at the agency, adding that he will continue to dedicate “a day or two per week on government matters.”