Biden-led OPM officials laud agency's transformation
Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Shines Under Biden Administration
The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has demonstrated its vital role in a well-functioning government during the last four years, as highlighted in a 12-page report recently released by the agency. Acting OPM Director Rob Shriver expressed confidence in the agency's current position and its readiness to serve the incoming administration.
One of OPM's significant accomplishments under the Biden administration includes helping implement the President's vision of the federal government as a model employer. The agency played a key role in establishing a $15 federal minimum wage, banning the use of job applicants' salary history, and standardizing locality pay. OPM also overhauled its internal processes to improve service delivery, reducing the number of pending retirement applications and ascending to the top of the American Customer Satisfaction Index's rankings of federal agencies' customer service.
In addition, OPM has taken steps to improve pay equity, increase early-career recruitment of federal workers, and enhance services to other agencies. The agency protected federal workers during the COVID-19 pandemic and helped agencies adapt to a new hybrid work environment.
Shriver also mentioned the difficulty in addressing improper enrollment in the current decentralized Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHB). He expressed hope that the Trump administration would pick up OPM's legislative proposal to centralize the administration of the FEHB program, as seen in the Postal Service Health Benefits Program.
Moreover, OPM played a crucial role in protecting federal workers during the COVID-19 pandemic and received an 'A' grade on its Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act scorecard for the first time. Rob Shriver, who served as the Acting Director of the OPM from January 20, 2021, to November 3, 2021, stated that the current administration's regulation on Schedule F is the strongest action it could take in support of the policy that career civil servants are essential to democracy.
Shriver also defends OPM's regulations aimed at preventing or slowing the reimplementation of Schedule F, a Trump administration plan to strip civil service protections from thousands of federal workers. He claims that the postal system has already revealed root causes of improper enrollments, which are often oversights rather than fraudulent activities.
In conclusion, the Office of Personnel Management has made significant strides under the Biden administration, transforming from the agency that fell victim to the 2015 hack of federal personnel records and was nearly absorbed by the General Services Administration. Shriver's hope is that the Trump administration will pick up OPM's legislative proposal to centralize the administration of the FEHB program, further improving the efficiency and effectiveness of the federal government.
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