TALENTS Act
Summary
What This Bill Does
The TALENTS Act codifies the Presidential Management Fellows Program as a federal leadership pipeline for advanced-degree graduates. OPM must set qualifications, run annual announcements and structured selection, publish finalist lists, and from fiscal years 2026 through 2031 keep the number of Fellow positions at 200 percent of the prior baseline. Eligible applicants must have completed an advanced degree within two years or be on track to complete one by August 31 of the competition year, with veterans preference available. Agencies may appoint Fellows to two-year Schedule D excepted-service positions at GS-09, GS-11, GS-12, or equivalents; extend appointments up to 120 days for rare circumstances; approve limited part-time schedules; and use Fellows for short, medium, and long-term succession needs. Agencies must approve individual development plans within 90 days, provide 80 hours of annual formal interactive training, assign mentors, give each Fellow a 120-to-180-day developmental assignment, support optional rotations, evaluate certification through Executive Resources Boards, allow reconsideration, manage interagency transfers, set withdrawal and readmission rules, and convert certified Fellows into term or permanent competitive-service positions. The bill also establishes Federal Executive Boards in named metropolitan areas, requires agency field officials to participate, lets OPM adjust boards, and requires OPM reports to Congress every three years on program challenges and improvements.
Who Benefits and How
Advanced-degree graduates, Presidential Management Fellows, veteran applicants, agencies seeking leadership talent, regional federal offices, and Federal Executive Boards benefit from a larger, more structured leadership development pipeline. Fellows gain clearer appointment, training, rotation, transfer, reconsideration, and conversion pathways.
Who Bears the Burden and How
OPM staff, agency PMF coordinators, agency supervisors, mentors, Executive Resources Boards, principal regional officers, agency field officials, and Federal Executive Board staff must administer the expanded program, training hours, rotations, certifications, transfers, readmissions, conversions, board governance, designations, and recurring reports. Agencies also must fund headquarters rotations when practicable and may bear placement-fee reimbursement issues when Fellows move early.
Key Provisions
- Creates a statutory Presidential Management Fellows Program and doubles Fellow positions for fiscal years 2026 through 2031 compared with the prior baseline.
- Requires OPM to run annual announcements, structured assessments, qualification rules, finalist lists, and program resources for advanced-degree applicants.
- Requires agencies to provide individual development plans, 80 annual training hours, mentors, developmental assignments, certification decisions, reconsideration procedures, and conversion pathways.
- Provides transfer, withdrawal, readmission, part-time schedule, extension, and competitive-service conversion rules for Fellows.
- Establishes Federal Executive Boards in named metropolitan areas and requires agency field officials to participate under OPM oversight.
Evidence Chain:
This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
At a Glance
What This Bill Does
Codifies and expands the Presidential Management Fellows Program, setting eligibility, appointment, training, rotation, certification, transfer, withdrawal, conversion, Federal Executive Board, and reporting rules.
Key Policy Areas
Government, Labor, Education
Primary Purpose
Codifies and expands the Presidential Management Fellows Program, setting eligibility, appointment, training, rotation, certification, transfer, withdrawal, conversion, Federal Executive Board, and reporting rules.
Policy Domains
Substantive provisions
Identified Gains
- advanced-degree graduates
- Presidential Management Fellows
- veteran applicants
- federal agencies
- Federal Executive Boards
Identified Costs
- Office of Personnel Management staff
- agency PMF coordinators
- agency supervisors
- Executive Resources Boards
- Federal Executive Board staff
- federal agencies
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
In CommitteeReferred to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.
Introduced in House
Ms. Stansbury (for herself, Ms. Bonamici, and Ms. Davids of …
Stakeholder Effects
cui bono?How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.
Executive Resources Boards certifying Fellows, Federal Executive Boards in metropolitan areas, Office of Personnel Management board oversight staff
Positive-direction: Federal Executive Boards in metropolitan areas, congressional oversight committees receiving PMF reports, federal agencies receiving finalist lists
Negative-direction: Executive Resources Boards certifying Fellows, Office of Personnel Management board oversight staff, Office of Personnel Management program staff, Office of Personnel Management readmission staff, Office of Personnel Management reconsideration staff, Office of Personnel Management report staff, Office of Personnel Management selection staff, Office of Personnel Management staff applying program definitions, agency PMF coordinators covered by definitions, agency field officials serving on boards, agency human resources staff handling withdrawals, agency human resources staff managing PMF schedules, agency mentors supporting Fellows, agency supervisors approving development plans, federal agencies appointing Fellows, federal agencies converting certified Fellows, federal agencies making PMF appointments, original agencies releasing transferred Fellows, principal regional officers designated for boards, receiving agencies appointing transferred Fellows, receiving agencies converting Fellows
Presidential Management Fellows appointed to agencies, Presidential Management Fellows converting to competitive service, Presidential Management Fellows facing withdrawal rules
Positive-direction: Presidential Management Fellows appointed to agencies, Presidential Management Fellows converting to competitive service, Presidential Management Fellows receiving appointments, Presidential Management Fellows receiving training, Presidential Management Fellows transferring between agencies
Negative-direction: Presidential Management Fellows facing withdrawal rules
PMF applicants with advanced degrees, advanced-degree graduates seeking PMF positions
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
- "Program"
- → Presidential Management Fellows Program
- "Director"
- → Director of the Office of Personnel Management
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology