The CFO of the Office of Personnel Management, which manages human resources for nearly all civilian employees in the federal government, resigned Tuesday, effective immediately. Sources told CNN that former CFO Erica Roach was offered another position that she considered a demotion, and chose to submit her resignation in response.
She oversaw more than $1 trillion in federal trust funds and, during her final days, the agency was targeted by Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency for “suspicious transactions,” including Musk’s aides locking employees out of OPM offices in Washington, D.C. during their inquiries into the organization’s operations.
OPM’s responsibilities include hiring, retirement, background investigations and benefits for civilian employees across federal agencies. As the federal government has grown to become the nation’s largest employer, OPM’s workload has increased significantly in recent years.
The agency was also among those recently affected by President Donald Trump’s paused deferred resignation offers. However, compared to other federal entities, OPM remains relatively small in both headcount and spending. In 2023, OPM employed 2,680 full-time staff and had a budget of $1.2 billion — a fraction of the budgets of major agencies it supports, such as the Department of Defense, Department of Veterans Affairs, Internal Revenue Service and Social Security Administration.
Agency budgets (FY 2023):
- Department of Defense: $800 billion+ (mostly untraceable)
- Department of Veterans Affairs: $325 billion
- Internal Revenue Service: $14 billion
- Social Security Administration: $14 billion in administrative costs (excluding benefit payments)
- OPM: $1.2 billion
Despite its smaller size, OPM plays a crucial role in shaping federal policies affecting agencies such as the FBI, CIA, ATF and Secret Service. This may also be why Musk and DOGE seek to make changes at OPM as part of their effort to re-implement merit-based hiring tactics in the public and private sectors.
Under the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978, OPM is required to ensure that federal hiring and employment practices adhere to merit-based principles and remain free from political influence. Trump and DOGE have publicly criticized policies like DEI, and an executive order to halt such practices in the federal government was implemented by Trump on Jan. 20. This suggests the administration likely believes OPM has failed in its responsibility to enforce merit, raising questions about whether Roach’s departure is part of broader consequences for the agency.
Roach confirmed her resignation but did not provide a reason for her departure. She is being replaced by Melissa Ford, who has served as associate CFO at the agency since 2022.
