Guidance on EO 14,356: Ensuring Continued Accountability in Federal Hiring

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) issued this memorandum jointly to implement Executive Order 14,356 (EO). The memorandum reiterated that each agency must establish a Strategic Hiring Committee to approve the creation or filling of any vacancy. Under the EO, the committee must include the deputy agency head and the chief of staff to the agency head, but this implementing memorandum provided that the committee could create subcommittees and, with notification to OPM, could substitute the deputy agency head with other senior officials. The memorandum emphasizes that the hiring committee "may include career officials, but should be comprised of a majority of non-career appointees." It provided instructions for agencies to create staffing plans and submit them to OPM on an ongoing basis. The memorandum also reiterated the Trump administration's limitation of agencies to one new hire per four "departures" of staff, with certain exceptions. Finally, it observed that these requirements would not apply to hiring by presidential appointees and, with OPM approval, by certain independent establishments.