1. United States
2. Mo.
3. Letter

I am writing to express my serious concern and strong opposition to the Office of Personnel Management’s proposed overhaul of federal employee performance evaluations, specifically the implementation of a forced distribution rating system. This proposal would arbitrarily cap how many federal employees can receive top performance ratings, regardless of actual performance. Even if an entire team performs at a high level, supervisors would be required to downgrade some employees simply to meet a quota. That is not merit-based evaluation. It is manufactured scarcity. According to reporting, this system would eliminate long-standing safeguards, restrict employees’ ability to challenge unfair ratings, and allow lower ratings to be assigned without meaningful review. These changes undermine the fundamental principle that federal employees should be evaluated based on objective standards, not forced curves or bureaucratic targets. Even more concerning, these ratings are not just symbolic. They directly affect promotions, pay, and even job security during reductions in force. Under related proposals, performance ratings would carry greater weight than tenure in determining who keeps their job. In other words, an artificially lowered rating could cost a dedicated public servant their career. Critics, including agency officials, have already warned that forced distribution systems lead to arbitrary distinctions between equally performing employees and erode trust across the workforce. This policy risks punishing excellence, discouraging collaboration, and politicizing a system that is supposed to reward merit and service to the American people. If the goal is accountability, then the solution is better management, not quotas that force managers to label capable employees as average or worse. A system that requires unfair outcomes by design is not reform. It is regression. I urge you to take immediate action to oppose and halt implementation of forced distribution performance ratings across the federal workforce, protect federal employees’ right to fair and objective evaluations and due process, and conduct oversight into the broader impact these changes will have on workforce morale, retention, and government effectiveness. Federal employees serve this country with professionalism and dedication. They deserve a system that recognizes real performance, not one that distorts it. I expect your leadership on this issue.