This presidential memorandum directs federal agencies to improve accountability among Senior Executive Service (SES) officials.
It cites the President's constitutional authority to ensure the faithful execution of laws and emphasizes the need for SES officials to align with the President's agenda.
The memorandum mandates changes to performance plans, personnel assignments, and review boards, empowering agency heads to remove officials whose performance or actions are deemed inconsistent with this goal.
Arguments For
- Intended benefits: Increased efficiency and effectiveness of the Executive Branch by ensuring alignment of SES officials' actions with Presidential priorities and national interests.
- Evidence cited: The memorandum cites the Constitution, Supreme Court precedent (Seila Law LLC v. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau), and Title 5, United States Code, section 3131, to support the President's authority over SES officials and the need for accountability.
- Implementation methods: The memorandum details specific actions, including revising performance plans, re-assigning personnel, restructuring review boards, and enabling agency heads to remove underperforming or disloyal officials.
- Legal/historical basis: The memorandum grounds its actions in the President's constitutional authority to ensure faithful execution of laws and the need for accountability in the Executive Branch.
Arguments Against
- Potential impacts: Could lead to political interference in the civil service, potentially discouraging qualified individuals from seeking SES positions and creating a climate of fear and distrust.
- Implementation challenges: Restructuring review boards and reassigning personnel requires significant time and resources. Determining what constitutes “underperforming” or “disloyal” can be subjective and open to abuse.
- Alternative approaches: Improving training, providing clearer performance metrics, and offering incentives for strong performance could achieve similar goals without the potential for political influence.
- Unintended effects: Rapid personnel changes could disrupt ongoing programs and create instability within agencies. Overly aggressive enforcement could discourage dissent and independent thinking within the Executive Branch.
January 20, 2025
MEMORANDUM FOR THE HEADS OF EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIES
SUBJECT: Restoring Accountability for Career Senior
Executives
Career Senior Executive Service (SES) officials are charged to “ensure that the executive management of the Government of the United States is responsive to the needs, policies, and goals of the Nation and otherwise is of the highest quality,” as required by section 3131 of title 5, United States Code. SES officials have enormous influence over the functioning of the Federal Government, and thus the well-being of hundreds of millions of Americans.
As the Constitution makes clear, and as the Supreme Court of the United States has reaffirmed, “the ‘executive Power’ — all of it — is ‘vested in a President,’ who must ‘take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed.’ Seila Law LLC v. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, 591 U.S. 197, 203 (2020). “Because no single person could fulfill that responsibility alone, the Framers expected that the President would rely on subordinate officers for assistance.” Id. at 203–04.
The President’s power to remove subordinates is a core part of the Executive power vested by Article II of the Constitution and is necessary for the President to perform his duty to “take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed.” Because SES officials wield significant governmental authority, they must serve at the pleasure of the President.
Only that chain of responsibility ensures that SES officials are properly accountable to the President and the American people. If career SES officials fail to faithfully fulfill their duties to advance the needs, policies, and goals of the United States, the President must be able to rectify the situation and ensure that the entire Executive Branch faithfully executes the law. For instance, SES officials who engage in unauthorized disclosure of Executive Branch deliberations, violate the constitutional rights of Americans, refuse to implement policy priorities, or perform their duties inefficiently or negligently should be held accountable.
The President must be able to trust that the Executive Branch will work together in service of the Nation. My Administration will restore a “government of the people, by the people, for the people.” Therefore:
This introductory section establishes the context for the memorandum.
It emphasizes the significant role of Senior Executive Service (SES) officials in the federal government and asserts the President's constitutional authority to ensure their accountability.
The section cites legal precedents supporting the President's power to remove subordinates and highlights the importance of ensuring that SES officials serve the needs, policies, and goals of the nation.
It frames the actions outlined in the memorandum as essential for restoring accountability and fulfilling the President's constitutional duty.
(a) Within 30 days of the signing of this memorandum, the Director of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), in coordination with the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), shall issue SES Performance Plans that agencies must adopt;
(b) Agency heads, who along with their senior staff manage career SES officials as one of their core functions, shall use all available authorities to reinvigorate the SES system and prioritize accountability;
(c) Each agency head shall, as necessary and appropriate and consistent with the procedural requirements of section 3395 of title 5, United States Code, reassign agency SES members to ensure their knowledge, skills, abilities, and mission assignments are optimally aligned to implement my agenda;
(d) Each agency head should terminate its existing Executive Resources Board (ERB), institute a new or interim ERB, and assign senior noncareer officials to chair and serve on the board as a majority alongside career members;
(e) Each agency head should terminate its existing Performance Review Board membership and re-constitute membership with individuals committed to full enforcement of SES performance evaluations that promote and assure an SES of the highest caliber; and
(f) Any agency head who becomes aware of an SES official whose performance or continued occupancy of the position is inconsistent with either the principles reaffirmed in this Order or their duties to the Nation under section 3131 of title 5, United States Code, shall immediately take all appropriate actions, up to and including removal of that official, with the support of OPM and OMB. Restoring an accountable government workforce is a top priority of my Administration.
This section outlines specific actions for federal agencies to implement.
The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and Office of Management and Budget (OMB) are tasked with creating new performance plans.
Agency heads are directed to use existing authorities to improve accountability, reassign personnel to better align with presidential priorities, reform Executive Resource Boards and Performance Review Boards by installing non-career officials in leadership roles, and to remove SES officials whose performance is unsatisfactory.
The section emphasizes the administration's strong commitment to accountability.