Presidential Management Fellows Program

                By the authority vested in me as President by the 
                Constitution and the laws of the United States of 
                America, including sections 3301 and 3302 of title 5, 
                United States Code, and in order to provide for the 
                recruitment and selection of outstanding employees for 
                service in public sector management, it is hereby 
                ordered as follows:

                Section 1. There is hereby constituted the Presidential 
                Management Fellows Program. The purpose of the Program 
                is to attract to the Federal service outstanding men 
                and women from a variety of academic disciplines and 
                career paths who have a clear interest in, and 
                commitment to, excellence in the leadership and 
                management of public policies and programs. Individuals 
                selected for the Program shall be known as Presidential 
                Management Fellows (PMFs) or Senior Presidential 
                Management Fellows (Senior PMFs).

                Sec. 2. (a) Individuals eligible for appointment as a 
                PMF under this order are those who, in pursuing a 
                course of study at the graduate level, have 
                demonstrated both exceptional ability and the 
                commitment to which section 1 refers. Such individuals 
                at the time of application must have received, or must 
                expect to receive soon thereafter, an appropriate 
                advanced degree as defined by the Director of the 
                Office of Personnel Management (OPM).

                    (b) Individuals eligible for appointment as a 
                Senior PMF under this order are those who have, through 
                extensive work experience, demonstrated both 
                exceptional leadership or analytical ability and the 
                commitment to which section 1 refers.

                Sec. 3. The Director of OPM shall prescribe appropriate 
                merit-based rules for the recruitment, nomination, 
                assessment, selection, appointment, placement, and 
                continuing career development of fellows, including 
                rules that:

                    (a) reserve to the head of a department or agency 
                or component within the Executive Office of the 
                President (EOP) the authority to appoint a fellow who 
                is to be employed in that department, agency, or 
                component;
                    (b) provide for nomination by universities and 
                colleges, through competitive selection processes, of 
                eligible individuals for consideration for appointment 
                as PMFs;
                    (c) carry out the policy of the United States to 
                ensure equal employment opportunities for employees 
                without discrimination because of race, color, 
                religion, sex, or national origin; and
                    (d) ensure the application of appropriate veterans' 
                preference criteria.

                Sec. 4. (a) Fellows shall be appointed to positions in 
                either:

                    (1) Schedule A of the excepted service; or
                    (2) an agency or component within the EOP excepted 
                from the competitive service.
                    (b) Appointments under subsection (a) shall not 
                exceed 2 years in duration unless extended by the head 
                of the department or agency or component within the 
                EOP, with the concurrence of the Director of OPM, for a 
                period not to exceed 1 additional year.
                    (c) The following principles and policies shall 
                govern service and tenure by fellows:
                    (1) responsibilities assigned to a PMF shall be 
                consistent with the PMF's educational background and 
                career interests, and the purposes of the Program;

[[Page 66318]]

                and responsibilities assigned to a Senior PMF shall be 
                consistent with the Senior PMF's experience and career 
                interests, and the purposes of the Program;
                    (2) continuation of a fellow's appointment shall be 
                contingent upon satisfactory performance by the fellow 
                throughout the fellowship appointment;
                    (3) except as provided in paragraph (4) of this 
                subsection, service as a fellow shall confer no right 
                to further Federal employment in either the competitive 
                or excepted service upon the expiration of the fellow's 
                appointment; and
                    (4) competitive civil service status may be granted 
                to a fellow who satisfactorily completes the Program 
                and meets such other requirements as the Director of 
                OPM may prescribe. A fellow appointed by an agency 
                excepted from the competitive service may also be 
                appointed to a permanent position in an excepted 
                service agency without further competition.

                Sec. 5. The Director of OPM shall provide for an 
                orderly transition, including with respect to 
                nominations, selection processes, and appointments, 
                from the Presidential Management Intern Program 
                established by Executive Order 12364 of May 24, 1982, 
                to the Presidential Management Fellows Program 
                established by this order. Until that transition is 
                provided for, individuals who were selected or 
                appointed under the provisions of Executive Order 12364 
                and who have not completed their scheduled periods of 
                excepted service are hereby redesignated as 
                Presidential Management Fellows, and continue their 
                internships under the terms of Executive Order 12364.

                Sec. 6. The Director of OPM shall prescribe such 
                regulations as may be necessary to carry out the 
                purposes of this order.

                Sec. 7. Executive Order 12364 is superseded, except as 
                provided in section 5 of this order.

                Sec. 8. This order is not intended to, and does not, 
                create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, 
                enforceable at law or in equity by any party against 
                the United States, its departments, agencies, 
                instrumentalities or entities, its officers or 
                employees, or any other person.

                    (Presidential Sig.)B

                THE WHITE HOUSE,

                    November 21, 2003.