New hiring guidelines from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management reveal that government applicants will have to answer four 200-word essay questions to be considered for a job in the Trump administration.
Questions include an inquiry into which of Trump’s executive orders have been “significant” to their lives.
Trump implemented a government-hiring freeze upon his inauguration on Jan. 20, which is expected to be lifted on July 15.
While the first four months of President Donald Trump’s second term have been characterized by mass layoffs and hiring freezes, the government is about to start accepting new employees — with one major new requirement.
The U.S. Office of Personnel Management laid out the guidelines for hopeful applicants in a May 29 memo. In keeping with Trump’s rejection of diversity, equity and inclusion hiring practices, the memo stresses that the “Merit Hiring Plan” focuses on “skills-based hiring, eliminating unnecessary degree requirements, and requiring the use of rigorous, job-related assessments to ensure candidates are selected based on their merit and competence, not their skin color or academic pedigree.”
One of those “assessments,” the memo explains, is four 200-word essay questions each applicant must answer in order to prove that they would be a good fit for the Trump administration.
The questions, particularly the third, ask the applicant to prove their mettle not only through personal qualification, but also with an ideological alignment with the administration’s existing policies.
Read the full essay questions below:
How has your commitment to the Constitution and the founding principles of the United States inspired you to pursue this role within the Federal government? Provide a concrete example from professional, academic, or personal experience.
In this role, how would you use your skills and experience to improve government efficiency and effectiveness? Provide specific examples where you improved processes, reduced costs, or improved outcomes.
How would you help advance the President’s Executive Orders and policy priorities in this role? Identify one or two relevant Executive Orders or policy initiatives that are significant to you, and explain how you would help implement them if hired.
How has a strong work ethic contributed to your professional, academic or personal achievements? Provide one or two specific examples, and explain how those qualities would enable you to serve effectively in this position.
Upon his inauguration on Jan. 20, Trump implemented a federal hiring freeze, which he later extended to July 15. In February, he issued another executive order implementing a “workforce optimization initiative” with the assistance of the Department of Government Efficiency, which was headed by Elon Musk until recently.
The order explained that, when the hiring freeze was lifted, government agencies were to hire only one employee for each four that had left or been laid off.
Following that order and several others reflecting the administration’s plan to “prioritize recruitment of individuals committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government, passionate about the ideals of our American republic, and committed to upholding the rule of law and the United States Constitution,” 21 DOGE employees submitted their resignations.
The employees claimed that, beginning one day after Trump’s inauguration, they had been taken in for 15-minute interviews with individuals wearing White House visitor badges, who refused to identify themselves and ”asked questions about political loyalty, attempted to pit colleagues against each other, and demonstrated limited technical ability.”
“We will not use our skills as technologists to compromise core government systems, jeopardize Americans’ sensitive data, or dismantle critical public services,” the letter continued. “We will not lend our expertise to carry out or legitimize DOGE’s actions.”
For his part, Musk left the White House on Friday, May 30, as his 130-day limit as a special government employee had come to an end. On his way out, the tech billionaire also issued some criticisms of Trump’s administration, claiming that the president’s touted “Big Beautiful Bill” was set to undermine all the work he’d done at DOGE.
“I was disappointed to see the massive spending bill, frankly, which increases the budget deficit, not just decreases it, and undermines the work that the DOGE team is doing,” he told CBS Sunday Morning in an interview that aired on June 1.
The “Big, Beautiful Bill” is funding its tax cuts and military spending in part by cutting some federal health and energy programs. However, it is also poised to add an estimated $3.8 trillion to the national deficit, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.
“I think a bill can be big or it can be beautiful, but I don’t know if it can be both,” Musk said.
