More than 500 former PMFs urge revival of federal leadership program
Hundreds of former Presidential Management Fellows are urging Congress to reinstate the now-defunct PMF program, previously one of the government’s key channels for recruiting and developing the next generation of federal leaders.
In response to President Donald Trump’s elimination of the PMF program earlier this year, over 500 program alumni signed a letter sent to Congress on Friday, calling for the passage of the TALENTS Act. The bill, introduced by Sens. Andy Kim (D-N.J.) and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) in May, would both restore and codify the PMF program, in effect preventing any presidential action from removing it in the future.
The July 11 letter, organized by the Presidential Management Alumni Association, outlined the positive impacts of the federal leadership develop program and called Trump’s dismantling of it “short-sighted.”
“Now more than ever, the legislative and executive branches need the fresh perspectives and highly talented public servants the PMF program provides to ensure our government is prepared to tackle the enormous challenges facing the American people today and in the future,” the letter reads.
Trump’s Feb. 19 executive order described the fellowship program as “unnecessary.” He said its elimination would support his administration’s efforts to “dramatically reduce” the federal government.
The termination of the program earlier this year quickly led to a surge of support within the PMF community.
“That night, we started organizing and talking about what was possible, what we could do, how we could try to help save the program?” said Abby Korb, a PMF program graduate who currently works at the Administration for Children and Families, but spoke to Federal News Network in her personal capacity.
The letter’s signatories represent decades of PMF graduates, ranging from the first few years of the program’s existence, up to those who were removed from their jobs just a few months ago.
Sens. Kim and Merkley, who both started their own federal careers as PMFs, said the program brings in thousands of skilled, early-career employees and ultimately strengthens the federal workforce. Kim likened the cancelation of the federal leadership development program as “shooting ourselves in the foot.”
“It is going to hurt our ability to have the kind of talented, effective and frankly efficient workforce in our government that this administration and others say that they want,” Kim said in an interview. “I really worry that this is going to not just hurt our current workforce, but set us back a generation.”
While Trump’s Feb. 19 order described the program’s cancelation as a step toward efficiency, proponents of the program argue that in reality PMFs improve agency efficiency rather than detract from it.
“We are the kind of people that are willing to volunteer for anything, handle multiple tasks at once and try new things,” Korb said. “The PMF program helped increase efficiency back when it was in existence, because we were willing to drop what we were doing and go help someone that needed something done faster, or something that was more urgent. I just don’t know if that’s going to be possible anymore.”
Since PMFs are generally early on in their federal careers, most current fellows were removed from their jobs as part of the Trump administration’s terminations of probationary employees in February and March. Beyond the immediate impact of the program’s termination, some expressed concerns about how it will affect the next generation of federal leaders.
“There’s an opportunity to look at the current state of play in federal service. And I think there’s a real appetite to have pipeline programs like this,” said Larry Handerhan, a PMF program graduate and former ACF official who signed the letter. “These kinds of programs make the federal government stronger and make Americans safer because they bring the best and the brightest into federal service.”
The PMF program was established in 1977 during the Carter administration. Over nearly five decades, it has onboarded and developed thousands of federal leaders governmentwide. Reserved for those with advanced degrees, the highly competitive PMF program places participants in two-year rotations with agencies — and often leads to longer careers in public service. According to the Feb. 11 letter, 87% of PMFs took a permanent or term position in government following the completion of their two-year fellowship.
“The fact that we can get these talented people, give them a community that makes them want to stay and become leaders, that’s what every organization needs to develop talent in this program,” Handerhan said. “The PMF program is just such a successful example of that.”
Over the years, graduates of the PMF program have risen to high leadership roles across the federal government. Sean O’Keefe, a PMF in the inaugural class of the program, went on to serve as secretary of the Navy and NASA administrator during the George W. Bush administration. He credited his time in the leadership development program as the “catalyst” for his entire career in public service.
“It really gives you a shot, gives you an opportunity to do some things that you may never have thought possible,” O’Keefe said. “Every president I ever dealt with viewed programs like this as being an imperative, and that was because they, too, were people who were in public service. Now we’ve lost the opportunity to really recruit people who may not have ever thought about public service.”
In addition to reinstating the PMF program, the TALENTS Act would also task the Office of Personnel Management with sending regular reports to Congress detailing how the program is doing; and require agencies to give PMFs 30 days’ notice on whether they’ll be converted to full-time federal employees once their fellowships end. The legislation would also expand PMF program eligibility to individuals with master-level certificates in certain cases.
Moving forward, Kim said he hopes to garner bipartisan support for the TALENTS Act to ultimately revive the Presidential Management Fellows program.
“PMFs are not people that favor one party or the other. They are public servants who serve under both Democratic and Republican presidents,” Kim said. “I hope that both parties and the Trump administration will stand by their word in saying that they want to bring in talented people. That is exactly what this program is about.”
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