A dark, gray cloud is hanging over the Office of Personnel Management.
Ask former OPM leaders when these clouds began to build and many would, and have, emphasized different points in the agency’s history.
But many OPM employees say the clouds have been building and growing darker over the past year, as the Office of Management and Budget has tried to pitch Congress — and the workforce — on its proposal to merge OPM with the General Services Administration.
Employees say the merger proposal over the past year has lowered their morale, created debilitating uncertainty and has crippled the agency and its mission for the long term, as OPM has shed years of institutional knowledge, lost key executives and delayed their own work.