Hiring/Retention
Federal job applicants can’t skip ‘loyalty question’ that OPM says is optional, court filings claim

OPM says it’s optional for job candidates to answer the essays and that they won’t be disqualified from consideration if they skip them.

Jory Heckman@jheckmanWFED
April 28, 2026 2:10 pm
7 min read

This story was updated at 3:52 p.m. on April 28 to include comments from an OPM official

New essay questions on many federal job applications, asking candidates how they would advance the Trump administration’s policies, are optional, according to the Office of Personnel Management.

But new documents submitted in a lawsuit seeking the removal of these essays show that job candidates, in some cases, can’t submit their online job applications if they leave the fields for essay responses blank.

One of several essay questions, outlined under the Trump administration’s Merit Hiring Plan, asks candidates how they would “advance the president’s executive orders and policy priorities,” to name “one or two executive orders or policy initiatives that are significant to you,” and how they would help implement them if hired.

Federal employee unions who filed the lawsuit last fall claim the inclusion of a “loyalty question” on federal job applications runs counter to the nonpartisan nature of the civil service, because it allows the “Trump administration to weed out those who do not voice sufficient support for President Trump and reward those who do.”

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Jory Heckman
Jory Heckman is a reporter at Federal News Network covering the Postal Service, Department of Veterans Affairs, IRS, big data and technology issues. Follow @jheckmanWFED