Data / Federal rules / 2025-17788
Assuring Responsive and Accountable Federal Executive Management
The Personnel Management Office published this final rule in the Federal Register on September 15, 2025. It took effect on October 15, 2025.
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What the agency says
The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is issuing this final rule to remove the prohibition of a forced distribution of performance rating levels within the Senior Executive Service (SES) as well as eliminate diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) language within SES performance management regulations. Governmentwide SES ratings data have consistently shown that most SES receive the highest rating levels (i.e., Levels 4 and 5) despite documented reports of SES failings. Allowing agencies to limit the highest SES rating levels will increase rigor in SES appraisal and lead to a more normalized distribution of SES ratings across the Federal Government.
Key facts
- Document number
- 2025-17788
- Type
- Final rule
- Action
- Final rule
- Agency
- Personnel Management Office
- Published
- September 15, 2025
- Takes effect
- October 15, 2025
- Dates
- Effective October 15, 2025.
- Docket
- Docket ID: OPM-2025-0006
- Regulation ID (RIN)
- 3206-AO81
- Code of Federal Regulations
- 5 CFR 430
- Topics
- Government employees
- Significant
- Yes, under Executive Order 12866
- Pages
- 9
Other documents from the Personnel Management Office
| Document | Type | Published |
|---|---|---|
| Administrative Leave for Workforce Realignment and Other Purposes 2026-21320 | Final rule | Oct 19 |
| Elimination of Time-in-Grade 2026-21319 | Final rule | Oct 19 |
| Managing Senior Professional Performance 2026-21316 · significant | Final rule | Oct 19 |
| Family and Medical Leave Act 2026-21104 | Final rule | Oct 15 |
| Employment in the Excepted Service 2026-19222 · significant | Proposed rule | Sep 18 |
| Federal Employees Health Benefits Program: Optimizing FEHB Plan Offerings 2026-18944 | Proposed rule | Sep 15 |
| Promoting Employee Accountability 2026-18943 | Proposed rule | Sep 15 |
| Shared Certificates and Pooled Hiring Actions 2026-18828 · significant | Final rule | Sep 15 |
Everything from the Personnel Management Office · Rules on government employees · Published in September 2025
Read from the Federal Register API, last updated 2026-10-23. The document on federalregister.gov is the official record; dates and dockets can change through later corrections. Free to reuse with credit to SpecStream under CC BY 4.0.