## Notes from 17 April 2025 [[2025-04-16|← Previous note]] ┃ [[2025-04-18|Next note →]] Today I read a pretty [cool piece](https://federalnewsnetwork.com/workforce/2025/04/the-pathways-program-transformed-agencies-approach-to-early-career-hiring/) about the _Pathways Program_, a tool the U.S. federal government uses to bring young talent into public service. It was launched during the Obama years to replace older internship models and has become the main entry point for students and recent grads looking to work in government. A key part of the program was the _Presidential Management Fellows_ (PMF), a two-year fellowship for people with advanced degrees that was eliminated by the second Trump administration. Fellows could rotate between offices, join leadership trainings, and many stayed in government after. What's interesting is that the _Pathways Program_ is not just run by the [[U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM)]]. Each agency also has a role, reflecting the way HR is set up in the U.S. government - not fully centralized, but shared. OPM sets the rules, the agencies decide how to apply them. The article also pointed out a larger issue: to avoid the legal risks that ended the previous program (FCIP), Pathways was designed with tighter rules. But that also made it less flexible and less attractive to agencies. It's the classic trade-off in HR - more legal safety usually means less room to act.