1. White House Office · Minor
Use OPM to effectuate the President's direct Title 5 authorities
Printed page 32 1. White House Office
“Maintaining a strong relationship with the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) both for operational purposes and to effectuate the President's direct Title 5 authorities. The President is in charge of the federal workforce and exercises control principally by working through the Director of the Office of Personnel Management.”
What has happened
- Done
OPM is the instrument, and it has delivered. The Director's office issued the Merit Hiring Plan (2025-05-29), rescinded the probationary-period regulations under EO 14284, wrote the Schedule Policy/Career final rule and its implementing guidance, took on approval of every federal hire under EO 14356, and rewrote the reduction-in-force and performance-appraisal regulations. The Quote asks the White House to maintain a strong relationship with OPM and to effectuate the President's direct Title 5 authorities through it; on the public record that is how the workforce has been governed for the whole window.
- Partially done
The channel was opened on day one. Executive Order 14170 directed the Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy and the OPM Director to produce a government-wide Merit Hiring Plan, and Executive Order 14171 directed OPM to write the rule reinstating Schedule F; the Hiring Freeze memorandum of the same day made the OPM Director the exemption authority for all federal civilian hiring. Partial at this date because these were instructions, not yet exercised authority.
Research log
What was searched, and what didn’t count as evidence
Research notes
Researched 2026-08-27, with Chapter 1’s other White House asks.
Every major workforce action of the window has run through OPM under direct presidential instruction — which is precisely the relationship the Quote asks the White House to maintain:
| Presidential instrument | What OPM was told to do |
|---|---|
| EO 14170 (2025-01-20) | develop the Merit Hiring Plan with the Domestic Policy Council; issued 2025-05-29 |
| EO 14171 (2025-01-20) | rulemaking to reinstate Schedule F as Schedule Policy/Career |
| Hiring Freeze memorandum (2025-01-20) | administer the freeze and grant exemptions |
| Memorandum, Restoring Accountability for Career Senior Executives (2025-01-20) | issue SES Performance Plans agencies must adopt |
| EO 14284 (2025-04-24) | rescind the probationary-period regulations |
| EO 14317 (2025-07-17) | adopt regulations creating Schedule G |
| EO 14356 (2025-10-15) | run Strategic Hiring Committees and Annual Staffing Plans |
| EO 14410 (2026-06-03) | place the first positions in Schedule Policy/Career |
The Quote’s own theory — “the President is in charge of the federal workforce and exercises control principally by working through the Director of the Office of Personnel Management” — is a description of how this administration has actually worked.
- Action
- other
- Object
- President's direct Title 5 authorities exercised through OPM
- ID
- 15