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.
By Jory Heckman Fed. News Network, Apr. 28, 2026
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.
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