The White House has put forward a controversial new candidate to run the United States Office of Personnel Management (OPM), an Agency which President Donald Trump is trying to abolish.
Mr Trump announced he wants John Gibbs (pictured) to run the OPM, which oversees human resources functions across the Federal Government.
Mr Gibbs is a political appointee currently serving as Acting Assistant Secretary for Community Planning and Development at the Housing and Urban Development Department (HUD).
He first joined HUD in 2017, and prior to that trained non-profits in Japan and worked in software engineering.
Critics have questioned his qualifications to lead the Government’s personnel Agency, as he appears to have little Federal HR experience.
This is the fourth nomination within four years for the Permanent Director of OPM.
Previous Director, Dale Cabaniss resigned in March in a row over interference by the White House, just six months into the role which was supposed to run for four years.
Her predecessor, Jeff Pon, served only seven months as OPM chief before quitting without explanation in 2018.
Mr Trump’s first nominee, George Nesterczuk pulled out in August 2017 after Public Service unions vehemently objected to his selection.
Mr Gibbs has been caught up in controversy in recent years.
During the 2016 Presidential Election he repeatedly tweeted a false conspiracy theory, begun by far-right bloggers, alleging that Democrat candidate, Hilary Clinton’s Campaign Chair, John Podesta was involved in Satanism.
Mr Gibbs is a vocal supporter of Mr Trump.
His position as a senior official at HUD was also put under the spotlight when the Washington Post newspaper investigated how he obtained the role with no prior housing experience.
Last year Mr Trump moved to abolish OPM, proposing to transfer key policy setting functions to the White House.
The move has been fiercely opposed by unions.
Washington, 23 July 2020
