In a series of moves aimed at overhauling federal personnel management, the Trump administration has canceled the 2025 Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey (FEVS) while announcing plans to restart the prestigious Presidential Rank Awards. These decisions, implemented through the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), reflect broader efforts to streamline operations and emphasize performance amid ongoing civil service reforms.
The FEVS, an annual questionnaire distributed to millions of federal workers since 2002, gauges job satisfaction, leadership effectiveness, and workplace morale. OPM officially scrapped the 2025 survey, opting instead for retooling ahead of a potential 2026 relaunch. The cancellation follows months of postponements attributed to the administration’s “urgent” policy changes. Critics, including federal unions, argue this leaves the government without a key tool for assessing employee sentiment during a period of tumult, potentially hindering compliance with laws requiring workforce feedback.
Conversely, the administration is reviving the Presidential Rank Awards, paused in 2024-25, to honor exceptional career federal officials. These awards, the most lucrative in government, offer lump-sum payments of 35% of salary for “distinguished executives” with sustained extraordinary accomplishments and 20% for “meritorious executives.” Set to resume in fiscal 2026, the program aims to foster a high-performance culture, with OPM Director Scott Kupor urging agencies to nominate candidates based on objective, differentiated metrics. This restart contrasts with earlier cancellations, including in 2020 during Trump’s first term due to economic uncertainty and for 2025 amid budget reviews.
These policy shifts underscore the administration’s focus on efficiency and meritocracy but have sparked debate. Supporters see them as necessary reforms, while detractors fear reduced employee voice and politicized rewards.
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