A group of 23 Democratic lawmakers is asking Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Director Scott Kupor to explain how the agency’s redesigned Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey (FEVS) will comply with statutory requirements, nearly a year after OPM canceled the 2025 survey.
In a June 18 letter to Kupor, Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., and Rep. James Walkinshaw, D-Va., led 21 other lawmakers in asking OPM to provide the proposed 2026 FEVS questions, its administration timeline, and plans for releasing results publicly.
The FEVS serves as a tool to measure federal employees’ federal workforce morale, job satisfaction, and engagement. It also supports congressional oversight of executive branch activities as they relate to federal employees.
“We are particularly concerned by the decision to cancel the FEVS for 2025. The lack of transparency during a period of significant change is incredibly troubling,” the lawmakers wrote. They cited OPM data that shows approximately 317,000 employees left the federal government in 2025.
OPM announced last August that the Trump administration was canceling the annual FEVS for the first time since 2002. The survey is typically administered in the spring and released in the fall.
The survey was initially delayed but ultimately canceled by OPM. The agency said it was removing questions related to diversity, equity, inclusion, accessibility, and gender identity, while adding a question about poor performers that was removed by the Biden administration.
The lawmakers said that Kupor “indicated that FEVS 2026 will be changed to focus on micro-level responses.” However, they stressed that regulations mandate that agencies conduct the annual workforce survey with 16 core questions before the end of each calendar year.
“Given the critical importance of the FEVS and your announced changes to the survey, we request detailed explanations to the following questions to ensure that the FEVS 2026 survey provides valuable insights and complies with the law,” the lawmakers wrote.
The lawmakers asked Kupor whether all 16 required questions will be included in the 2026 FEVS, whether agencies will still be able to add their own questions, and whether OPM plans to change how it administers the survey and to whom.
They also asked when OPM plans to administer the 2026 survey, whether the results will be released publicly and when, and whether OPM is collecting results from agency pulse surveys to identify governmentwide trends, concerns, or opportunities.
Other signers of the letter include Sens. Angela Alsobrooks, D-Md.; Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn.; Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii; Tim Kaine, D-Va.; Andy Kim, D-N.J.; Jeffrey Merkley, D-Ore.; Alex Padilla, D-Calif.; Gary Peters, D-Mich.; and Mark Warner, D-Va.
Reps. Donald Beyer Jr., D-Va.; Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas; Sarah Elfreth, D-Md.; Steny Hoyer, D-Md.; Greg Landsman, D-Ohio; Stephen Lynch, D-Mass.; April McClain Delaney, D-Md.; Kweisi Mfume, D-Md.; Eleanor Holmes Norton, D-D.C.; Suhas Subramanyam, D-Va.; Eugene Simon Vindman, D-Va.; and Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., also signed the letter.