President Trump has abandoned his plan to dissolve the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), backtracking on a campaign promise to shrink the government, The Washington Post reported Wednesday.
The office, which employs 5,500 people and manages human resources for the 2.1 million-person civilian workforce, will not at this point be divided among the White House and the General Services Administration.
This follows an 18-month effort by an Office of Management and Budget official to get rid of OPM, which has existed since 1978. Officials and lawmakers said the resulting plan was not concrete and not likely to save money. A defense authorization bill expected to be voted on Wednesday will move the matter to an independent study committee, the Post reported.
The president reportedly decided against moving forward with the plan after watching a television program on government and told other White House officials the next day. Acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney, acting budget director Russell Vought and Margaret Weichert, a White House official pushing for the OPM elimination, attempted to persuade the president, but it did not work, according to The Post.
“The president has been very clear that the reforms to make government more efficient shouldn’t have a negative implication for federal workers in that agency,” Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) told The Post.
Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.), the chairman of the House Oversight and Reform Committee’s panel on government operations, said the White House did not explain the rationale behind why the plan was needed.
“For once, Trump’s political instincts are better than Mulvaney’s,” he told the Post.
Rachel Semmel, an OMB Spokeswoman, said in a statement to The Hill that the administration “remains committed to reforms.”
“This Administration remains committed to reforms – including organizational improvements – that will increase the service and stewardship of the Government for the American people,” the statement reads. “Given the magnitude of the many policy wins included in the NDAA, we welcome a study to bring more voices to this important conversation.”
The president moved forward the initial plan to dissolve the first federal department to be dissolved since World War II in April.