Thursday, July 30, 2026Public · Read-only
Democracy on the Line
Institutions·Severity 4Severe

GAO: GAOverview: Recent Federal Workforce Changes at OPM

Why This Matters The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is the federal government's central agency for human resources and workforce management. Since December 2024, in alignment with presidential directives on the closure of certain offices and the reduction of the size of the federal workforce, OPM has undergone significant workforce and organizational structure changes. These actions have reduced institutional knowledge and operational capacity at the agency. OPM’s Headcount Decreased by 35 Percent Between December 2024 and March 2026 GAO analysis of OPM’s Federal Workforce Data (FWD) fou [gao:inspector general]

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Evidence

1 sources
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    GAO

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    https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-26-108916
    Why This Matters The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is the federal government's central agency for human resources and workforce management. Since December 2024, in alignment with presidential directives on the closure of certain offices and the reduction of the size of the federal workforce, OPM has undergone significant workforce and organizational…

Across the aisle

Voices on this issue

Independent voices from different starting points, on the record about this kind of action. The framework grades behavior, not party — these quotes come from people who would say the same thing under any administration.

From the right

Conservatism is supposed to be about institutions. If you are tearing the institutions down, you are not doing conservatism.

Adam Kinzinger

Former Republican congressman from Illinois; House Jan 6 Committee member.

Kinzinger has restated this principle across multiple post-2021 appearances. Public statements (consolidated)