Section 1 · Taking the Reins of Government
👥Ch. 3 — Central Personnel Agencies
OPM / MSPB · 13 tracked
Reinstate EO 13839 to accelerate federal employee discipline and removals
Proposed
Mandate calls for reintroducing EO 13839, which shortened improvement periods, sped discipline, limited settlement record-cleansing, and tightened supervisor accountability—revoked by Biden EO 14003.
Reinstate anti-union EOs 13836 and 13837 and reactivate Impasses Panel
Proposed
Mandate directs reinstatement of EOs forcing renegotiation of CBAs, limiting official time for grievances, and pairing with EO 13839, plus immediate appointment of FLRA General Counsel and reactivation of the Impasses Panel; also floats ending public-sector unions.
Restore rigorous civil-service exams and narrow disparate-impact constraints
Proposed
Mandate argues the PACE consent decree and disparate-impact doctrine blocked KSA exams; urges legislative/regulatory narrowing of disparate impact and moving forward with rigorous exams like USAHire despite equity concerns.
Insert political policy goals into career employee performance appraisals
Proposed
Mandate says political executives should build policy goals directly into employee appraisals, take an active role supervising career appraisals, and not unduly delegate to senior career managers.
Expand federal merit pay / pay-for-performance across the workforce
Proposed
Mandate pushes restoring and expanding merit pay beyond SES/managers so compensation tracks performance ratings rather than seniority, using existing awards strategically pending legislation.
Reinstate Schedule F for policy-influencing career employees
Proposed
Mandate urges reinstatement of EO 13957 Schedule F excepting confidential, policy-determining, policymaking, or policy-advocating career positions from competitive service protections so they can be relocated or removed more easily.
Consolidate federal employee appeals into MSPB; shrink EEOC/OSC roles
Proposed
Mandate proposes transferring EEOC’s federal employee section to MSPB, returning many OSC investigatory functions to OPM, limiting FLRA appeals via union limits, and making MSPB the main adverse-action reviewer to simplify firing.
Cut federal pay/benefits toward private-sector ‘market’ levels
Proposed
Mandate claims federal total compensation exceeds private equivalents by large premiums and urges moving toward market-based pay/benefits, neutral OPM special-rate control, and further retirement reforms closer to private plans.
Prioritize performance over seniority and veterans’ preference order in RIFs
Proposed
Mandate says a determined President should insist performance be first among RIF retention factors (currently tenure, veterans’ preference, seniority, then performance) and be wary of costly buyout RIFs.
Freeze top career hiring to block political ‘burrowing-in’
Proposed
Mandate recommends freezing all top career-position hiring at transition to prevent outgoing political appointees from converting into career posts, and limiting SES burrowing via proper political-slot creation.
Maximize political appointees and elevate OPM Director to Cabinet
Proposed
Mandate argues understaffed political leadership cedes power to careerists; urges a full cadre of appointees from day one, tight PPO–OPM–liaison coordination, and giving the OPM Director Cabinet-level precedence.
Reassert political control of SES boards and cut career-reserved policy posts
Proposed
Mandate criticizes career domination of SES evaluation boards and excessive career-reserved policy jobs, urging noncareer executive dominance of SES boards and respect for political leadership of the bureaucracy.
Strip federal unions from national-security components (cross-cutting personnel goal)
Proposed
Within the broader personnel agenda, Mandate’s DHS chapter pairs central personnel strategy with removing unions from DHS for national security; Ch. 3’s union hostility supplies the governmentwide rationale to shrink FLRA leverage and bargaining.