Statement on the Future of the PMF Program
Improving the federal government is hard. We know this because, for 47 years, Presidential Management Fellows (PMFs) and alumni have been the staff implementing those changes — bringing talent, dedication, and fresh perspectives to public service.
On February 19, 2025, President Trump’s executive order, Commencing the Reduction of the Federal Bureaucracy, ended the current incarnation of the PMF program and failed to outline how the crucial function of recruiting and developing top talent will continue.
This is not the first time the PMF program has changed. Since President Carter created the program by executive order in 1977, Presidents Obama, Bush, and Reagan each made significant reforms. This program has always evolved because America and her needs continue to evolve. But one principle remains unchanged: the American government always deserves the best and brightest to enter her service.
Recent workforce reforms have caused suffering in our community. Many new employees who we have mentored and cared for have seen their best opportunity to live a life of service to their country taken away. Millions of dollars in recruiting and training have been lost. Established frameworks have been broken. Essential government functions are threatened. Many of our PMFs and alumni have been terminated, and there is widespread fear and uncertainty among those who remain.
No matter how much the government changes, shrinks, or grows, “government of the people, by the people, for the people” requires that each new generation serves in that government. Ending the PMF program means there is no longer a path to identify exceptional applicants to develop into the federal government’s next leaders.
Presidential Management Intern and PMF alumni have and will continue their careers in various sectors, including government, with a foundation of public service and a commitment to a better future. As an organization, we will continue to support our alumni to build and maintain an exceptional nonpartisan, merit-based civil service. That is our job and our calling. The next task is to reopen the door for the rising generation so that they, too, may answer that call.
We invite current and former PMFs who have been impacted by these changes to share their story, with as much detail as they feel comfortable: