OPM suspends executive promotion boards
Move will give incoming Obama administration agency heads a say in who advances to the Senior Executive Service.
The Office of Personnel Management issued a governmentwide moratorium Friday on processing Senior Executive Service Qualifications Review Board cases, in a move aimed at allowing new Obama administration agency leaders to weigh in on the career senior executives they will work with.
In a memorandum to federal chief human capital officers, acting Director Michael W. Hager said OPM called for the suspension "to ensure the incoming head of the agency will have the full opportunity to exercise his or her prerogative to make or approve executive resource decisions that will impact the agency's performance during his or her tenure."
The review boards are OPM-administered independent panels of senior executives who assess the qualifications of candidates to enter the SES.
Under federal law, OPM has the authority to suspend processing QRB cases whenever an agency head departs. Since President Bush requested that all presidential appointees submit their resignations by Dec. 19, OPM ordered a governmentwide suspension that took effect immediately.
Hager stated in the memo that he would consider exceptions to the policy on a case-by-case basis. "While a QRB moratorium is intended to preserve the prerogatives of an incoming agency head," he wrote, "this must be balanced against the need to ensure the continuity of agency operations during such transitions."