Senators focus on payment details regarding memo for political appointments within OPM

In a strongly-worded letter sent on May 28, a group of Democratic senators voiced their concerns over a recent policy guidance issued by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) under the Trump administration. The policy, outlined in an April 10 memo penned by Charles Ezell, suggests the need for well-qualified Schedule C employees to drive the Trump Administration's agenda.

The senators, including Sens. Tim Kaine, Mark Warner, Chris Van Hollen, Angela Alsobrooks, Alex Padilla, John Fetterman, Richard Blumenthal, and Patty Murray, accused the Trump Administration of decimating the nonpolitical career civil service and using taxpayer dollars to enrich and reward political allies. They called the policy an "egregious abuse of taxpayer dollars and massively wasteful."

Schedule C employees are appointees to confidential or policy roles outside of the competitive service. The policy encourages agencies to offer the maximum federal salary of $195,200 to attract Schedule C employees. However, the senators criticized this move for bypassing basic vetting processes.

The policy also authorizes removing agency human resources offices from their role in setting the terms for Schedule C appointment, such as onboarding and vetting political appointees. The senators requested any OPM guidance to agencies as to how to set the terms for a Schedule C appointment in order to avoid widespread corruption.

The senators emphasized that Schedule C hires are not career civil servants, but work to advance the political agenda of the President. They requested salary information of all Schedule C appointees, broken down by agency and job descriptions of those making $195,200.

Furthermore, the senators requested written information detailing the role of the Presidential Personnel Office in hiring Schedule C appointees. They also asked for the agency-level cost of hiring the desired number of Schedule C appointees.

The senators concluded their letter by requesting justification for revoking agency HR department authority to set the terms for Schedule C appointment. They requested a response by June 4, urging the OPM to reconsider this policy guidance.

During the Trump administration, Perryn Ashmore served as the acting director of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and the agency's chief information officer (CIO), after Greg Hogan departed. Ashmore was the assistant director of enterprise learning at OPM. However, the information about Schedule C employees receiving the highest federal salary of $195,200 during the Trump administration was not detailed in the search results provided.

Senators focus on payment details regarding memo for political appointments within OPM