Oversight Activities Oversight FAQs

OPM will complete its review and notify the agency of our decision within 15 business days from the date we receive all of the information needed from the agency.

Yes.

No.  OPM will continue to conduct merit staffing reviews first followed by the Qualifications Review Board.

Consistent with past OPM policy, our review looks back five years to ensure we safeguard merit principles in consecutive Administrations.

No.  We will not review temporary or term appointments.

OPM’s objective is to safeguard fair and open competition and protect against political influence in the hiring for career Federal jobs. With this in mind, the two most common reasons for OPM not to approve a proposed selection are 1) when the career job appears to have been  created or tailored solely for the benefit of the current or former political appointee or, 2) when competition for the career job has been limited inappropriately.

No.  For example, a person who was a political appointee in 2007 and was hired for a career Federal job in 2008 can apply for and be selected for another career Federal job and OPM will not review the selection under the revised policy.

Yes.  We will not review hiring under 5 CFR 315, subpart F, and 5 CFR 337, subpart B.  These regulations allow for non-competitive appointments to the Federal civil service under certain conditions (e.g. direct-hire; the appointment of 30 percent or more disabled veterans; the appointment of Peace Corps personnel and certain former overseas employees).  

No.  It has been OPM policy since the Carter Administration and under every President since to ensure that politics plays no role when agencies hire political appointees for career Federal jobs.  In the past, OPM conducted a pre-hiring review of proposed appointments to the career competitive service during the year leading up to a Presidential election.  Effective January 1, 2010, OPM’s pre-hiring oversight expanded beyond the Presidential election year to ensure that, going forward, hiring of current or former political appointees -- whenever it occurs -- is fair, open, and free from political influence.

There were two changes in OPM’s policy.  First, as noted above, OPM now conducts pre-hiring reviews on a continuing basis, not just during the year leading up to a Presidential election.   Second, we expanded the scope of our review for future hiring decisions.  In the past OPM only reviewed an agency’s proposed hiring of a current or former political appointee when the career Federal job was in the competitive service.  Under our revised policy, OPM reviews proposed hiring of current or former political appointees for jobs in the excepted service as well.  OPM's responsibility to ensure merit-based hiring for Federal jobs includes both the excepted and competitive service.

Yes.  OPM will review initial appointments that may lead to non-competitive conversion.

One of OPM’s most important roles by law is to ensure that agencies comply with merit system principles and conduct fair and open competition for Federal jobs.  OPM leadership is committed to upholding these principles every day of every year.  So, OPM expanded its oversight to safeguard Federal hiring from political influence.  The revised policy is also in line with recommendations from the Government Accountability Office.

No.  The policy only applies prospectively to hiring on or after January 1, 2010.

We determine this period by looking back five years from the closing date of the vacancy announcement.  If an applicant for a career Federal job held a political appointment covered by OPM’s policy during that five-year period, OPM will review the proposed selection to ensure it meets merit system principles.  We recognize that vacancy announcements are not always used for excepted service positions.  In such cases, the five-year period will be determined by looking back five years from the date an agency submits its request for pre-hiring review to OPM.

It depends.  OPM will not conduct a pre-hiring review if an agency wants to non-competitively select a current or former political appointee for reinstatement to a Federal job at the same or lower grade than previously held.  However, OPM will review the proposed selection of a current or former political appointee who is competing for a career Federal job at a higher grade or with greater promotion potential than the career job previously held.