Reforming the Federal Hiring Process and Restoring Merit to Government Service

For pay scales GS-05 and above, applicants have to write short essays for four questions, the third of which is:

> How would you help advance the President’s Executive Orders and policy priorities in this role? Identify one or two relevant Executive Orders or policy initiatives that are significant to you, and explain how you would help implement them if hired.

As House Representative Stephen F. Lynch pointed out [1], a question about adopting a particular president's priorities is at odds with the federal employee's oath and puts a loyalty test in the hiring process:

> Every federal worker is legally required to take an oath of office that they will “support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic.” The oath does not require federal workers to swear to protect and defend executive orders or policy initiatives. It does not require that workers have loyalty to a President or to a political party. In fact, the very ethos of our civil service is that it serves the Constitution and the American people. That mandate transcends any political position or capriciously signed executive order.

There are multiple DOGE employees [2][3] who would be unlikely to pass a good faith execution of the "merit and competence" guideline of the new hiring process.

[1][pdf] https://admin.govexec.com/media/gbc/docs/pdfs_edit/060225ew1...

[2] https://www.techdirt.com/2025/06/02/a-23-year-old-crypto-bro...

[3] https://www.propublica.org/article/trump-dhs-thomas-fugate-c...