General
Questions and answers
OPM’s objective is to safeguard fair and open competition and protect against political influence in the hiring for career Federal jobs. With this in mind, the two most common reasons for OPM not to approve a proposed selection are (1) when the career job appears to have been created or tailored solely for the benefit of the current or former political appointee or, (2) when competition for the career job has been limited inappropriately.