As part of a ‘minibus’ spending package, the House of Representatives is giving more than $300 million to the Office of Personnel Management. Former OPM Director Jeff Pon says that despite the Trump administration’s controversial reorg plan, the House bill is business as usual. Pon believes that OPM needs additional resources for policy development.
“I think OPM had been disenfranchised over the last couple decades in terms of policy personnel. It’s only a 40 person shop and yet it’s the organization that really needs to be plussed up. Also the Merit Systems Accountability Office that OPM has, it’s hard to do it with a handful of people over 2.7 million people. We really do need to take a look at enforcement,” Pon said. “OPM is not just for services… I hope agencies will take a look at what role they can do in working with OPM to generate new cultures, new ideas, and making sure there’s demonstration projects.”
