Skip to page navigation
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

OPM.gov / About / Who We Are / Congressional, Legislative & Intergovernmental Affairs
Skip to main content

Congressional, Legislative & Intergovernmental Affairs

Congressional, Legislative, and Intergovernmental Affairs (CLIA) advocates for the legislative and policy priorities of the Director and the Administration. CLIA is the focal point for all congressional, legislative, and intergovernmental activities for the Office of Personnel Management (OPM). CLIA educates, responds to, interacts with, and advises Congress and State, local, and tribal officials on Federal human resources management policy. CLIA also counsels and advises the Director and other OPM officials on policy, and congressional and legislative matters.

CLIA is the OPM component that fosters and maintains relationships with Members of Congress and their staff members. CLIA staff accomplishes its mission by keeping informed of issues related to programs and policies administered by OPM. CLIA staff attends meetings, briefings, mark ups, and hearings in order to interact, educate, and advise agency, congressional, and State, local and tribal government officials.

As the focal point for all congressional and legislative activities for OPM, we are uniquely qualified to advise the Director and OPM officials on all matters that are important to Congress. Our advice and counsel also help prepare the Director and senior officials for testimony on the Capitol Hill on matters related to civil service law and regulations—from hiring reform to pay and retirement issues.

Ultimately, through our work, relationship building, and knowledge of OPM and congressional priorities, we are able to help the Director develop strategies to enact the Administration’s human resources agenda.

CLIA is comprised of the following:

Congressional Relations (CR): serves as the principal liaison with Congressional Committees, individual Members of Congress, and as the agency's congressional and legislative liaison with the White House and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). Working with CLIA's subgroups and OPM program offices, CR designs and implements legislative strategies that support OPM's legislative agenda. While CR takes the lead, it staffs congressional hearings, meetings, and briefings with other CLIA and program office staff.

Legislative Analysis (LA): reviews and prepares legislative documents and congressional testimony; and is responsible for the clearance of testimony, congressional reports, questions for the record, and other materials within OPM, and/or through OMB. LA's primary functions are to draft legislation, technical comments, analysis, and testimony.

Constituent Services (CS): provides services to Members of Congress and active and retired federal employees with questions about retirement, health care, and other OPM programs and policies. CS responds to constituent and federal employee inquiries in a timely, professional, and, when related to private personal information, confidential manner. CS monitors inquiries and develops educational and outreach activities.

Intergovernmental Affairs (IA): IA serves as OPM’s principle interface with State, local, and tribal governments. IA develops and maintains relationships with these governments and monitors State legislation and regulations for their impact on OPM programs and policies. IA also ensures that OPM meets requirements for tribal consultation, including maintaining and updating the OPM tribal consultation plan and serving as OPM’s designated tribal consultation official.

* Hearing impaired users may utilize the Federal Relay Service by dialing 1-800-877-8339** to reach a Communications Assistant (CA). The CA will dial the requested number and relay the conversation between a standard (voice) telephone user and text telephone (TTY) user.

** Visiting the Federal Relay Service website will provide access to additional Toll-Free and Toll Access Numbers.

Control Panel