A coalition of government managers sent a letter to the chairman and ranking member of the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee on March 5 to offer support for Dale Cabaniss, the nominee to take over leadership of the Office of Personnel Management.
OPM has gone without a Senate-confirmed director for a majority of the Trump administration, as former Director Jeff Pon left the agency in October 2018 after only serving for seven months.
“OPM, the agency tasked with overseeing the federal civil service, has lacked consistent Senate-confirmed leadership over the last several years,” the Government Managers Coalition, which collectively represents over 200,000 management-level feds, wrote in the letter.
“While the agency has certainly undertaken good work in the interim, it is in the midst of a significant reorganization effort with the General Services Administration and playing key roles in leading the President’s Management Agenda. Operating without a clearly established direction by Senate-confirmed leadership should not become the standard state of affairs for any agency, particularly for such an integral component for managing the federal workforce.”
The letter cites Cabaniss’s past experience working in government as a qualifying reason to approve her nomination.
“Ms. Cabaniss’ experience as chairman of the Federal Labor Relations Authority and in the United States Senate with the Committee on Governmental Affairs and Committee on Appropriations, promise a broad and relevant skill-set ideal for filling this crucial government role,” the letter said.
Jessie Bur covers federal IT and management.
