A new review of the Office of Personnel Management and its potential merger into the General Services Administration is finished. The National Academy of Public Administration says transferring some OPM duties to the Office of Management and Budget and merging others into GSA would not fix the problems at the agency.
- Jessica Klement, Staff Vice President of Policy and Programs at NARFE, said the important question here is whether anyone will do anything about this report.
- Klement said whether the report creates change “comes down to how those of us who advocate on the Hill for issues like this are able to convince members of Congress and their staff that we have a … human capital management problem in the federal government.”
- Some of the things mentioned in the report the Biden administration can do without Congress include elevating human capital, giving the OPM director (assuming she is confirmed) a seat at the table and telling agencies to listen to her expertise; however, modernizing outdated OPM IT systems, moving to an employee digital record and modernizing retirement services are some actions that will require funding from Congress, said Klement.
