President Trump’s top point person on agency management and federal personnel policy is stepping down next month after a nearly three-year tenure that saw mixed results for an aggressive agenda to shake up the civil service.
Margaret Weichert, deputy director for management at the Office of Management and Budget, will rejoin the consulting world at Accenture’s commercial practice. She joined the administration in 2017 as a senior advisor at OMB before the Senate confirmed her to her current role in February 2018. She also served as acting head of the Office of Personnel Management for roughly one year, further influencing policy impacting the federal workforce.
Weichert spearheaded the administration’s efforts to reorganize government, placing particular attention on the push to eliminate OPM as an independent agency while folding its portfolio into the White House and the General Services Administration. Weichert helped usher out her predecessor at OPM, Jeff Pon, over his resistance to the plan. While she continued to fight for the merger, Congress has resisted and punted on the proposal pending a study. Weichert successfully oversaw one part of the plan, however, with the Defense Department last year assuming responsibility for all security clearance investigations.
The deputy director has ushered in several key reforms to hiring, including a pilot program to give managers and subject matter experts more say in the selection process. Weichert has also overseen the controversial implementation of Trump’s workforce executive orders, which focused largely on stripping federal employee unions of some of their previously enjoyed rights and influence. She has sought to overhaul federal compensation, arguing federal employees are trump federal personnel point person
