Venture Capitalist Up for Federal HR Job Says He Can’t Cut Staff

President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the federal government’s HR division said he wouldn’t have the power to fire federal employees if confirmed.

Venture capitalist Scott Kupor, Trump’s nominee to lead the Office of Personnel Management, told a Senate committee on Thursday that he can “provide guidance” to federal agencies about cutting workers.

“OPM doesn’t have authority to go in and do firing,” Kupor, a managing partner at Andreessen Horowitz, said.

OPM’s authority to cut employees is at the center of a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s firing of thousands of probationary federal workers, who are employees new to their roles.

A California judge in March paused some firings and said OPM’s order to federal agency heads to fire probationary employees was illegal.

As part of the litigation, OPM’s acting director Chuck Ezell denied directing government agencies to cut those employees. Court filings, however, show a Feb. 14 email from OPM directing agencies to “separate probationary employees.”

Judge William Alsup of the US District Court of the Northern District of California said in February that OPM did order agencies to fire their employees and violated the law.

Kupor’s nomination will need approval from the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee. The panel hasn’t scheduled a vote. Ranking Member Gary Peters (D-Mich.) in the hearing blasted Trump’s firings of probationary employees, calling his cuts to the workforce “senseless.”

“What has been happening since January is destruction just for the sake of destruction,” Peters said.