OPM procurement processing fully halted following agency layoffs, internal email says

The Office of Personnel Management’s procurement unit said it’s no longer able to process contracting opportunities and that all related operations have been halted after a “complete reduction in force” in the agency’s Office of Procurement Operations, according to an internal email viewed by Nextgov/FCW.

The terminations in the agency’s procurement office mean that “all new procurement actions, contract modifications, and ongoing solicitations are effectively stalled until alternative solutions are identified,” said the email sent Tuesday morning by Shreena Morris, who leads the office.

“The implications of this are significant, including potential delays in mission-critical acquisitions, contract lapses, and increased operational risk for OPM. OPO’s limited team will be prioritizing the processing of critical contract expirations and funding actions,” the notice added.

“We are actively assessing mitigation strategies, including potential transition support from external agencies or emergency procurement measures. However, I urge all teams to immediately assess their procurement dependencies and identify any urgent needs so we can prioritize potential workarounds,” it also said.

The email did not include specifics on how OPM’s procurement office will prioritize expiring contracts and funding actions, nor details on which contracts will be prioritized depending on their date of expiration.

Some of OPM procurement’s biggest spends each year support running the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program, which contains benefits for more than 8 million enrollees; managing USAJobs, where virtually all federal job openings are posted; processing online retirement applications; and running the federal government’s training platform, USALearning, among others. 

OPM informed employees in its procurement office last week that their positions were being “abolished” and they would be separated from federal service in 60 days. The moves are part of an effort to fold some OPM functions into the General Services Administration, one employee impacted by the layoffs told Government Executive. 

“While the work may go to GSA, it presents a massive risk of failure to suddenly transfer administration of them to another agency that's unfamiliar with any of it,” the employee said.

The employees impacted by Friday’s moves received reduction-in-force notices from acting OPM Director Charles Ezell, who said he was issuing the layoffs due to three separate executive orders issued by President Trump. 

“It is with great regret that I must inform you that your position of Procurement Analyst is being abolished, and you have been reached for release in the reduction in for action,” Ezell wrote in the notices.

An employee impacted by the RIFs said that the office supported functions throughout OPM — including human resources, training, communications, retirements and separations and health insurance benefits — and at other federal agencies. 

“People will suffer and the job will not get done without our work,” they said. “There was no thought to this, it's a clean cleaving of an entire function of an agency and the agency will not be able to function properly without it.”

Earlier this month, OPM also slashed its communications office and placed all employees on administrative leave, including its web team, according to two sources familiar with the moves.