OPM director announces imminent departure

U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) director Kiran Ahuja announced she will be leaving her role in the next several weeks.

The OPM works as the human resource office for the federal government and recruits and retains more than 2.2 million federal employees.

“Serving in the Biden-Harris Administration, and in support of the 2.2 million federal workers who dedicate themselves to the American people, has been the honor of my life,” Ahuja said in a statement Tuesday. “We have accomplished so much these last three years at OPM, but I am most proud of the friendships and bonds we built together in public service.”

Under Ahuja’s leadership, President Biden’s OPM has implemented a $15 minimum wage for federal employees, issued a regulation that prohibits use of previous nonfederal salary history in setting pay, issued a regulation that prohibits requesting criminal history for hiring, and created the Office of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility.

Ahuja, who was confirmed in June 2021, is the longest serving director of the office in more than 10 years and was confirmed as the first Asian American woman to lead it.

Ahuja previously worked as a civil rights lawyer in the Department of Justice, was the executive director of the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islands under former President Obama, and was chief of staff at the OPM under Obama.

She then served a the CEO of Philanthropy Northwest and was a member of Biden’s presidential transition team before being nominated for the position. The office did not say who would replace Ahuja.