Job applicants to the US Department of the Interior will soon face a revamped hiring process that includes essay questions, part of an effort to align federal personnel more closely with presidential priorities and weed out the deep staters.
An internal memo circulated last week by the department’s human capital office outlines the integration of the questions as part of a broader merit-based hiring plan, rather than the diversity-mandated hiring strategy of the Biden Administration. Applicants must write four 200-word essays addressing their work ethic, skills and experience, commitment to the Constitution, and how they would advance President Trump’s executive orders and policy priorities. The last item has earned the scorn of anti-Trumpers.
The essay component originates from a federal hiring overhaul launched in 2020 under Trump 1, to modernize civil service recruitment. Led by the Office of Personnel Management, the initiative emphasized practical skills over traditional educational credentials and sought to streamline the hiring process through shorter resumes and competency-based evaluations. The OPM has directed agencies to stop collecting demographic data on race, sex, and religion in the workforce.
While some civil service reform advocates have praised the plan, deep staters are wringing their hands about their chances to infiltrate government agencies.
