# Executive Order 14284 **Executive Order 14284, "Strengthening Probationary Periods in the Federal Service,"** was signed on 24 April 2025 and published in the *Federal Register* on 29 April 2025. It converted the federal probationary period from a formality that lapsed into permanence by default into a decision point that has to be affirmatively made. Three changes matter structurally. First, an agency head or designee must **affirmatively certify** that a probationary employee's continued employment is in the interests of the Government within 30 days before the probationary or trial period ends — so silence now ends the appointment rather than confirming it. Second, agencies may weigh factors **beyond performance and conduct**, including whether the individual's continued employment "would advance organizational goals" and the efficiency of the service. Third, agencies are no longer obliged to furnish a terminated probationer their conclusions about inadequate performance or conduct. Taken with OPM's *Streamlining Probationary and Trial Period Appeals* rule, 91 FR 49072 (3 August 2026), which moved probationary appeals from the [[Merit Systems Protection Board]] to [[OPM]] and narrowed them to two grounds, the order is the front half of the least-protected of the five routes out of federal employment. A September 2025 district court held that OPM lacked authority to direct other agencies to terminate probationers; the government appealed. This is a stub — expand with the order's full text, the OPM implementation guidance, agency certification practice, and the litigation history. ## See also - [[How a Federal Employee Is Fired]] - [[Federal Workforce Structure Tree]] - [[Merit Systems Protection Board]] - [[OPM]] - [[Schedule F]]