ExecutiveOrdersEO
EO 13197Executive OrderClinton · D Quiet signal

Executive Order 13197

Governmentwide Accountability for Merit System Principles; Workforce Information

This executive order amends Civil Service Rules to strengthen federal workforce accountability by adding new rules requiring executive agencies to report workforce information to OPM and establishing agency accountability systems for merit system principles. It also removes a provision on preference eligibles from Rule V and streamlines Rule VII on hiring discretion.

Federal Register Open PDF 66 FR 7853

Impact dates

  1. OPM establishment of workforce information standards and agency compliance

Key directives

  • Strike Civil Service Rule V, section 5.2(d)
  • Strike Civil Service Rule VII, section 7.2
  • Redesignate Rule VII sections 7.3 and 7.4 as 7.2 and 7.3
  • Add Rule IX (Workforce Information) requiring executive agencies to report civilian employee information to OPM
  • Add Rule X requiring agencies to establish accountability systems for merit system principles
  • Authorize OPM to review any agency's human resources management programs and report to agency heads and President
  • OPM to establish standards for workforce information submissions
  • Exempt FBI, CIA, DIA, NIMA, NSA and other foreign intelligence/counterintelligence units from Rule IX

Who is ordered

Timeline

Immediate

  • Civil Service Rule V, section 5.2(d) struck (removing specific preference eligible provision)
  • Civil Service Rule VII restructured with sections 7.2 and 7.3 redesignated
  • New Rules IX and X added to Civil Service Rules

Near term (90d)

  • OPM to develop standards for workforce information submissions
  • OPM to begin requiring agency workforce information reports
  • OPM to establish accountability system requirements for agencies

Long term

  • Ongoing agency reporting of workforce information to OPM
  • OPM reviews of agency HR programs and practices
  • Potential corrections of merit system deficiencies across executive branch

Risks & tensions

  • No explicit deadlines in text; implementation timeline depends entirely on OPM discretion
  • Intelligence agency exemptions create information gaps in workforce oversight
  • Rule V change removing preference eligible provision may reduce veterans' hiring protections (text does not specify replacement mechanism)
  • OPM 'may require' language creates permissive rather than mandatory authority—agency compliance uncertain without explicit enforcement
  • Potential tension between merit system oversight and agency autonomy in decentralized HR environment described in preamble
Executive Order 13197: Governmentwide Accountability for Merit System Principles; Workforce Information · Executive Orders