Trump replaces the federal director of staff, who has been in office for only a few months, with a senior OMB official

President Trump on Friday replaced his federal director of staff, who had been in office for only a few months, and handed him over to a senior official in the White House's Office of Management and Budget.

The appointment of Margaret Weichert, Assistant Director, Management Branch, OMB's Personnel Management Branch, supports the intention of the administration to inform the White House of federal personnel policies. However, during a telephone interview, Weichert refrained from calling the mission a step forward in achieving this goal.

"I would not say it's directly related to that. What I would say is that the broader objectives of the President's management agenda are focused on driving and modernizing our thinking about governance and our workforce in the 21st century. The President wants me to continue the work we are doing as part of her management program, "said Ms. Weichert, who will also remain at the OMB.

She replaces Jeff Tien Han Pon, a veteran of human resources management within and outside the government, who ran the central staff agency since March. The White House has not motivated its replacement.

The OPM is an independent executive agency whose main leaders are politicians appointed subject to confirmation by the Senate. The change will again leave the agency without a confirmed leader for an indefinite period. Prior to Pon's confirmation, the OPM had been headed by acting directors since mid-2015, the date on which its then-current director resigned after revealing the theft of personal information regarding more of 20 million people in two OPM databases.

The plan to transfer staff policy decisions to the White House, as part of a broader government reorganization initiative, has sparked opposition from federal unions who would argue the risk of politicize hiring, promotion, discipline and other policies for the 2.1 million federal employees.

Pon's main objective, however, was to call for an in-depth review of civil service legislation on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the last major revision, the 1978 Civil Service Reform Act, which indicated that many provisions were obsolete and what he called "room" changes since then at hiring, performance, rewards and other policies were insufficient.

It had not achieved its goal of introducing a law in Congress prior to this year's elections, although the administration issued three decrees aimed at restricting the role of federal unions and strengthening powers of management in matters of discipline. A federal court subsequently issued an injunction against most of the three orders, which decision is the subject of an appeal.

Weichert said that the administration would continue to implement these policies under his leadership at the OPM.

"The direction in which we are heading has been outlined in a number of documents, including the reform and reorganization plan, which reflect the perspective of the future of administration. I think when we get into some of these projects, we learn things that will inform the execution process. But I think that the basic political orientation remains the same, "she said.

In a statement, OMB Director Mick Mulvaney said, "The President made the fantastic decision to appoint Margaret Weichert as Interim Director of the OPM. Margaret has my full trust and support, and I know she will make every effort to ensure that federal staff have the appropriate skills and tools to provide the appropriate services to the American people. "

The reorganization plan also includes a transition from Corporate Services to OPM branches, which manage the federal government's insurance and pension benefits, as well as training and other services provided to other agencies. In addition, the Department of Defense would take over from the OPM to conduct background investigations across the government; this department is already ready to assume this responsibility for its own employees.

Such changes would probably take time, although no timetable has been defined.

"It would not be practical to move an entity as important as OPM is today in the White House," Weichert said. "It's just not the nature of the kind of functional activities in the White House. The elements we proposed in the reorganization plan were very much focused on the political functions that are similar to those of the other services of the President's Executive Office.