Federal personnel agency rewrites workforce rules with annual staffing plans

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has scrapped the federal government’s three overlapping human capital planning regimes and replaced them with a single Annual Staffing Plan, under a final rule effective November 30, 2026. The rule, approved by OPM Director Scott Kupor, was published in the Federal Register of Thursday, October 29, 2026 (Vol. 91, No. 208), under Docket ID OPM–2026–0368 and RIN 3206–AO77. It amends 5 CFR part 250, the framework governing personnel management in federal agencies.

From three planning regimes to one

The final rule consolidates the Human Capital Operating Plan (HCOP), the Human Capital Reviews (HCR) and the HRStat quarterly reviews into a single chain: the Annual Staffing Plan, the Annual Staffing Review conducted by OPM and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), and Quarterly Staffing Plan Performance Reviews. OPM argued that the three retiring instruments overlapped in content and were produced on schedules unsynchronized with the budget and performance cycles set by OMB Circular A–11, Part 6.

Under the new § 250.205, each agency’s Annual Staffing Plan must:

• align with the Agency Strategic Plan, the Annual Performance Plan, the agency budget, the President’s Management Agenda and the Human Capital Framework;
• be developed on a timeline consistent with strategic planning and budget formulation under OMB Circular A–11, Part 6;
• include metrics, frameworks and criteria for evaluating current and future workforce needs;
• target hiring to skills gaps, service delivery, succession planning and the highest-need areas;
• include measurable improvement goals for the four Human Capital Framework systems and standards;
• be coordinated by the agency’s Chief Human Capital Officer (CHCO) with the Chief Financial Officer, the Chief Operating Officer and senior leadership.

Agencies must send quarterly updates to OPM and OMB showing progress and explaining significant variances, and may fold the new quarterly reviews into existing reviews under the GPRA Modernization Act of 2010.

A stronger CHCO and a standing hiring committee

The rule adds a new dimension to § 250.204: agency structures, policies and technology must give the CHCO enough visibility, oversight and control to meet his or her duties under 5 U.S.C. 1401 and 1402. Compliance is verified through an agency-head certification in § 250.206; if a gap is identified, the agency must document it and set a remediation timeline.

The text also writes the Strategic Hiring Committee into regulation, implementing Executive Order 14356. Its minimum composition is the Deputy Secretary or equivalent, the chief of staff to the agency head and the CHCO. OPM states the Committee has no examining, rating or certification authority, and that its members remain bound by 5 U.S.C. 2301 and 2302.

Diversity language removed, survey cut to ten questions

As proposed, OPM removed nonstatutory references to a “diverse” workforce from § 250.203 and replaced the “Federal Workforce Priorities Report” with the President’s Management Agenda in § 250.201 and § 250.204. OPM insists the change leaves intact the merit system principle at 5 U.S.C. 2301(b)(1) and equal employment opportunity obligations under 42 U.S.C. 2000e–16.

On employee surveys, the Governmentwide core question set drops from sixteen items to ten, listed in § 250.302. Agencies administer their own surveys, must post results publicly unless national security is at risk, and must submit them to OPM and OMB within 90 days of completion (§ 250.303(c)). OMB assigned control number 3206–0284 to the new collection.

Cost estimate and next steps

OPM estimates first-year implementation at about 100 hours per agency, or $15,630 per agency and roughly $1,250,400 governmentwide, based on a GS–14, step 5 pay rate of $156.30 per fully loaded hour. Ongoing work is put at 120 hours per agency a year, about $18,756 per agency and $1,500,480 governmentwide, replacing rather than supplementing the retired processes.

The rule affects more than 80 federal agencies, from cabinet departments to small independent bodies. OPM received nine comments during the 30-day period that closed August 3, 2026, on the proposed rule published July 2, 2026 (91 FR 40435). Inquiries are directed to Jeanne Jacobson, Acting Deputy Associate Director of OPM’s Center for Workforce Strategy, Design, and Insights.

The rewrite matters beyond paperwork: with federal civilian personnel costs exceeding $300 billion a year, it shifts how hiring priorities are set, documented and audited across the executive branch, and gives political leadership a formal, recorded seat at the table where career staffing decisions are reviewed.

Source: Federal Register, Vol. 91, No. 208, October 29, 2026, Rules and Regulations, p. 68013 (official reference: 2026-22093; Docket ID OPM–2026–0368; RIN 3206–AO77).