Two Senate Democrats are aiming to bring back to life a prestigious Federal fellowship program for recent graduate students that was cancelled by the Trump administration earlier this year.
The Presidential Management Fellows Program (PMF) was established through an executive order during the Carter administration and provided a two-year, paid fellowship with government for recent graduate students.
Sens. Andy Kim, D-N.J., and Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., introduced The Training Aspiring Leaders Emerging Now to Serve (TALENTS) Act on May 15 to codify the program into law after President Donald Trump directed the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to terminate the program through his executive order to more broadly slash the Federal workforce.
“I believe that public service and serving our nation is an honorable pursuit that should inspire and attract the very best talent in our country,” said Sen. Kim in a statement.
“The PMF program has for years operated under both Republican and Democratic Presidents to lift up merit and align skills with opportunity,” the senator said. “Even in these divided times, I hope we can show strong bipartisan support for the importance of talent in government and the need to codify this important program in legislation.”
Under the new legislation, successful applicants would be placed under Schedule D and would be placed at the GS-09, GS-11, or GS-12 levels depending on their qualifications. Fellows would be considered to be in a trial period of employee rather than being probationary employees.
The Trump administration laid off thousands of probationary Federal employees this spring, resulting in court-issued reinstatements which the Supreme Court later overturned, ultimately upholding the mass layoffs.
“I was part of the Presidential Management Fellows Program and know how vital it is to ensure folks from all walks of life can pursue leadership positions serving the American people,” said Sen. Merkley in a statement. “We should be protecting leadership programs like PMF, but instead, Trump and his co-president Elon Musk, are destroying it as yet another reckless cut to the federal workforce.”
The legislation would give Fellows over 80 hours of formal training each year, access to leadership development activities, agency onboarding, and other mentorship opportunities. It would also enable Fellows to move between agencies.
Fellows who complete the PMF program would have the opportunity to convert to a permanent or term position within the agency they worked at, or at a different agency if a position is unavailable. OPM also would be required to issue a report to congressional committees every three years with updates on the program.
Before it was terminated by President Trump, the PMF received between 3,000 to 8,500 applications per year and chose 500 to 600 finalists, according to the Office of Personnel Management.