This Presidential Memorandum directs the Director of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to approve the use of critical position pay authority for up to 400 federal positions designated to support national security investment programs, particularly those involving critical minerals and advanced materials.
This grants agencies the ability to set basic pay rates up to $400,000 for these roles, facilitating the rapid recruitment and retention of highly specialized engineering, financial, legal, and investment professionals necessary to secure strategic supply chains and bolster national defense and economic security.
Arguments For
National Security Enhancement: The action directly supports expanding the Nation’s capacity in critical minerals and advanced materials, which are deemed foundational to economic strength and national security.
Workforce Agility: Utilizing critical position pay, which allows for higher salaries (up to $400,000), enables agencies to rapidly recruit the exceptionally skilled investment, engineering, financial, and legal professionals required for large-scale, urgent programs.
Reducing Foreign Dependence: The goal is to fortify supply chain resilience by building domestic capability, reducing reliance on external sources for essential components and technologies.
Legal Basis: The authority is explicitly granted under 5 U.S.C. 5377(d)(2) and related regulations, providing a defined legal mechanism for special compensation.
Arguments Against
Potential for Wage Inflation/Inequity: Offering above-standard pay rates for specific roles may create internal inequities within federal agencies and potentially contribute to broader federal wage inflation.
Scope and Oversight Concerns: While OPM is directed to provide oversight, the broad authority to set high pay rates for 400 positions requires rigorous justification to ensure the positions are truly 'critical' and cannot be filled through standard pay structures.
Budgetary Impact: Authorizing salaries up to $400,000 for these positions represents a significant, though likely necessary, allocation of federal appropriation funds.
Exclusion of Other Critical Areas: Focusing this high-level pay flexibility solely on national security supply chain investment may neglect other areas of federal work deemed critical by different agencies or stakeholders.
MEMORANDUM FOR THE DIRECTOR OF THE OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT
SUBJECT: Approving Critical Position Pay Authority for National Security Investment Workforce
This document opens by formally addressing the Director of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM).
The subject line clearly identifies the action: approving special pay authority for the federal workforce involved in national security investments.
Pursuant to the authority vested in me under 5 U.S.C. 5377(d)(2) and 5 C.F.R. 535.103(a)(3) and 535.104(c), I hereby approve the use of critical position pay for up to 400 positions supporting investment programs related to national security. The Office of Personnel Management (OPM), in consultation with the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), is authorized to allocate these positions to executive departments and agencies (agencies) and to approve agency requests under this framework, including setting rates of basic pay of up to $400,000, consistent with market comparability and national security urgency.
The President invokes specific federal statutes and regulations granting executive authority to enact this measure.
The core action is approving critical position pay for a maximum of 400 federal jobs tied to national security investments.
OPM, working with the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), gains the authority to assign these positions to various agencies and approve their high salary rates, which can reach $400,000, based on market rates and the immediate need for national security.
This action advances the rapid recruitment of the exceptionally skilled investment, engineering, financial, and legal professionals needed to expand the Nation’s capacity in critical minerals, advanced materials, and other essential components of our strategic supply chains. These capabilities are foundational to America’s economic strength and national security.
The immediate goal of this pay authority is to speed up hiring for specialized roles.
These roles demand exceptional expertise in investment, engineering, finance, and law.
The purpose of hiring these experts is to increase the country's capabilities concerning vital resources like critical minerals and advanced materials, which are essential elements of the national strategic supply chains.
Consistent with my Administration’s direction to accelerate American mineral production and secure essential technologies, the United States must have a workforce capable of executing major investment programs at the scale and speed required to reduce dependence on foreign sources, strengthen industrial resilience, and protect the Nation’s long‑term strategic interests. Today’s approval under the critical position pay authority enables agencies to recruit the expert talent required to fortify United States supply chain resilience, secure access to critical minerals and advanced technologies, and advance priority investment programs essential to our national defense and economic security.
This paragraph ties the action to broader administration policy focused on increasing domestic mineral production and securing key technologies.
It states that the U.S. needs a workforce that can execute large investment plans quickly to lessen reliance on other countries.
This pay authorization specifically allows agencies to attract the necessary experts to make supply chains stronger and pursue investment programs vital for defense and economic stability.
I direct OPM to provide appropriate oversight of agency use of this authority and to establish such conditions as necessary to ensure that critical position pay is used only to the extent required to recruit or retain exceptionally well-qualified individuals, consistent with 5 U.S.C. 5377.
The President issues a directive to OPM, requiring them to monitor how agencies use this special pay power.
OPM must set rules ensuring that the critical position pay is only utilized when necessary to recruit or keep individuals who are exceptionally qualified, adhering to the stipulations of the controlling federal law (5 U.S.C. 5377).
Nothing in this memorandum shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or the head thereof; or the functions of the Director of OMB relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals. This memorandum shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations. This memorandum is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.
This concluding paragraph contains standard legal disclaimers.
It clarifies that this action does not interfere with the existing legal powers of other executive departments or the OMB's budgetary roles.
Implementation of the memorandum must adhere to all applicable laws and available funding.
Finally, it states clearly that this document does not create any enforceable legal rights or benefits for any individual or entity against the U.S. government.
DONALD J. TRUMP
This line confirms the document is signed by then-President Donald J. Trump.
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