As agencies walk back the Trump administration’s controversial essay question from federal job postings, the Office of Personnel Management is directing them to replace it with a new prompt.

Agencies must now include a question stating, “In this role, you will be expected to professionally and efficiently implement executive direction. Provide an example where you implemented leadership direction on a strategy or policy decision that differed from your own recommendation.”

A Sept. 18 memo from OPM told agencies to begin including the new question on all upcoming federal job announcements. It replaces a prompt from the Trump administration that previously asked applicants to name a few executive orders or policy initiatives “significant” to them and explain how they would help implement those orders if hired.

The Trump administration’s previously required “loyalty” question is currently being scrubbed from federal job announcements. A federal judge ordered agencies to remove the essay prompt, finding that its inclusion on job questionnaires likely violated job applicants’ First Amendment rights.

Agencies are expected to include OPM’s replacement question on job announcements that close on or after Sept. 26. So far, about 2,400 job announcements contain the revised question, OPM said Friday in a court filing.

A lawsuit from federal unions has been challenging the prior essay question, which was one of the four original questions the Trump administration directed agencies to include in all federal job applications at or above the GS-5 level, as part of its May 2025 “merit hiring plan.”

Though the language of OPM’s replacement essay question moves away from a focus on presidential priorities, Jenny Mattingley, vice president for public policy and stakeholder engagement at the Partnership for Public Service, said it still does not do much to assess the actual skills an applicant would bring to the job.

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