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Eric Yoder
National Rapporteur on Internal Policies on Personnel, Management and Budget of the Federal Government
Lisa Rein
Reporter covering federal agencies and government management in the Trump administration
President Trump on Friday replaced his federal staff director after just seven months, leaving the agency that oversees 2.1 million officials without a permanent leadership at a time when the White House has proposed drastically reducing its mission.
The White House announced Friday that Margaret Weichert, senior manager of the White House's Office of Management and Budget, was succeeding Jeff Tien Han Pon, chief of the Office of Personnel Management.
The White House did not respond to a request for comment on Pon's departure, which was confirmed by the Senate in March.
People close to Pon, however, said that he disagreed with the administration over the planned reorganization of the personnel agency, which would have reduced its role and authority.
As part of the government-wide reorganization announced by Trump in June, most of DFO's functions would be transferred to other departments and his political role transferred to the White House.
While Pon publicly supported this plan, he had privately declared to Capitol Hill's legislator that the reorganization had to be approved by Congress, a point of view that made him lose favor with the White House, according to a person familiar with the situation. . Pon could not be reached for comment.
"He was about to try to reform an organization that the White House wanted to abolish," said Donald F. Kettl, a professor of public relations at the University of Texas at Austin.
Weichert will continue to serve as the Deputy Executive Director of the Commission during her tenure as Acting Chief of Staff, which is consistent with the Administration's efforts to bring policy decisions to bear. Federal staff at the White House.
She was instrumental in creating a project to reduce the role of the independent federal agency responsible for employee background checks, retirement claims, benefits and related policies. to the staff.
When asked if his appointment was a step forward to give the White House more authority over federal workers, Weichert replied, "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 vision of governance and our workforce in the 21st century." , she said in an interview.
In a statement, Mick Mulvaney, Director of CAMO, said, "Margaret has all my confidence and support, and I know she will make every effort to ensure that the federal staff has the necessary skills and tools. to provide the appropriate services to the American people. "
Pon is a former director of human resources who has worked both inside and outside government and has held a leading role at the OPM under George W.'s administration. Bush. He is widely respected as an expert in the federal public service and how to reform it.
Pon, a political conservative, was not the first choice of the White House, and his confirmation was extended for several months.
While his appointment was pending, the White House did not inform him of his intention to reduce the agency's footprint, according to three people aware of the situation.
"He's a very brilliant guy, who is exceptionally sensible on public service issues, but I doubt he had the ability to push the organization in the direction they want," he said. said Jeffrey Neal, former chief of staff of the Department of Homeland Security. and now senior vice president at ICF, a consulting company.
The departure of Pon will leave the agency again without a leader confirmed by the Senate. Prior to Pon's confirmation, the OPM had been led by interim directors since mid-2015, when then-director Katherine Archuleta was forced to resign after revealing the theft of personal information for more than 20 years. millions of people in two OPM databases.
The plan to transfer personnel policy decisions to the White House has drawn opposition from federal unions who have said it risks politicizing hiring, promotion, discipline and other policies for employees. federal career employees.
Pon was focused on a different goal: lobbying for a complete overhaul of public service laws on the 40th anniversary of the last major overhaul, the Public Service Reform Act, 1978 . He said that many of his provisions are now obsolete.
Trump issued three decrees to limit the role of federal unions and to strengthen management's authority over employee discipline. A federal court issued an injunction against most of the three orders, decision which is the subject of an appeal.
Weichert stated that his appointment did not signal a change in the administration 's policies regarding the federal workforce.
"The direction we are heading is explained in a number of documents, including the reform and reorganization plan," she said. "These reflect the future perspective of the administration, I think when we engage in some of these tasks, we learn things that will inform the execution process." I think that the basic political orientation remains the same. "
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