{"id":20433,"date":"2018-03-09T19:21:34","date_gmt":"2018-03-09T19:21:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/uncategorized\/2018\/03\/09\/opm-changes-policy-on-political-appointee-to-career-service-transfers\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T04:52:22","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T04:52:22","slug":"opm-changes-policy-on-political-appointee-to-career-service-transfers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/management\/hr\/2018\/03\/09\/opm-changes-policy-on-political-appointee-to-career-service-transfers\/","title":{"rendered":"Want to hire a former political appointee for an agency gig? You\u2019ll probably need OPM\u2019s okay."},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A far larger pool of former political appointees will need the stamp of approval from the Office of Personnel Management before landing career service positions, according to a new OPM policy announced Feb. 23, 2018.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The policy change is based on requirements in the Presidential Transitions Improvements Act of 2015, which expand the definition of a \u201ccovered civil service position,\u201d causing OPM to have a larger pre-appointment review coverage and data reporting obligation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTo comply with the reporting requirements of the Transitions Act, the updated policy communicates a change to OPM\u2019s previous policy, which excluded certain permanent appointments from OPM\u2019s reappointment review process. The updated policy communicates that moving forward, OPM will review proposed selections of current or former political appointees to permanent positions involving noncompetitive and direct-hire appointments,\u201d according to an OPM document detailing the policy change.<\/p>\n\n\n\t