Government withdraws plan to loosen rules for hiring federal judges

The Office of Personnel Management is canceling a proposed rule that would have changed how federal administrative law judges are hired and managed. The withdrawal means the existing hiring standards and employment rules remain in place — no loosening, no tightening, status quo preserved.

This is a non-event masquerading as a policy document. OPM proposed something in 2020, and is now formally saying it won't do it. The actual signal here is negative: whatever pressure existed to change how ALJs are appointed, it didn't stick. If there was a structural bottleneck in federal hiring that the 2020 proposal was meant to address, it remains unfixed.