Reforming the Federal Hiring Process and Restoring Merit to Government Service
The order directs the creation of a Federal Hiring Plan to overhaul how the federal government recruits and selects civil servants, emphasizing merit and practical skills while prohibiting consideration of race, sex, religion, or gender identity. It sets a target of cutting government-wide time-to-hire to under 80 days and requires modern technology and data analytics to modernize the process.
It is the first order by this administration to formally restructure federal hiring criteria, explicitly directing that diversity, equity, and inclusion factors may not be used in selection decisions and requiring named agencies to develop specific plans to realign Senior Executive Service positions.
What this order does
What it orders
The order directs the Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy — in consultation with the Directors of OMB and OPM and DOGE — to develop and send a Federal Hiring Plan to all agency heads within 120 days. The plan must prioritize merit and skill, prohibit hiring based on race, sex, or religion, implement technical and alternative assessments under the Chance to Compete Act of 2024, cut government-wide time-to-hire to under 80 days, improve communication with applicants, and integrate data analytics and digital platforms into recruiting. Agency heads are required to implement the plan's best practices, with advice from DOGE. Named agencies — including all Cabinet departments, EPA, OMB, SBA, SSA, NSF, OPM, and GSA — must include specific plans to realign Senior Executive Service positions.
The order also requires OPM to establish performance metrics to evaluate the reforms and to consult regularly with agencies, labor organizations, and other stakeholders. Standard general provisions limit the order to actions consistent with applicable law and available appropriations, and the order expressly creates no individual legal rights enforceable against the government.
Who it affects
Federal job applicants across the government, current federal employees in human resources and leadership roles, Senior Executive Service officers at named agencies, and all federal agencies that must implement the new hiring plan and report progress to OPM.
Why it matters
People applying for federal jobs will encounter new assessment tools and shorter, clearer hiring timelines. Agencies must restructure how they screen and select candidates, and criteria tied to diversity or gender-identity programs may no longer be used in selection decisions.
What must happen and when
How the order is supposed to work
The Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy coordinates plan development across OMB, OPM, and DOGE, then delivers the plan to agency heads. Each agency head must implement the resulting best practices, with DOGE offering ongoing advice. OPM serves as the ongoing accountability hub — setting performance metrics, collecting regular agency-level data, and consulting stakeholders to monitor reform progress. Implementation is conditioned on available appropriations, giving agencies some budgetary flexibility. No independent enforcement mechanism is created; compliance flows through the normal agency-to-White-House reporting chain.
Actions and deadlines
- Develop and deliver a Federal Hiring Plan to all agency heads
- Establish clear performance metrics to evaluate hiring reform success
- Consult with agencies, labor organizations, and stakeholders to monitor reform progress
- Agency heads implement Federal Hiring Plan best practices, with DOGE advice