The Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) was a United States federal law passed by the 104th United States Congress and signed into law by President Bill Clinton on September 21, 1996. It banned federal recognition of same-sex marriage by limiting the definition of marriage to the union of one man and one woman, and it further allowed states to refuse to recognize same-sex marriages granted under the laws of other states.
The United States Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is an independent agency of the United States government that manages the United States federal civil service. The agency provides federal human resources policy, oversight, and support, and tends to healthcare (FEHB), life insurance (FEGLI), and retirement benefits for federal government employees, retirees, and their dependents.
The Combined Federal Campaign (CFC) is the workplace giving program of the federal government of the United States. The program is authorized by executive order 12353 of March 23, 1982, and is overseen by the United States Office of Personnel Management (OPM). Issued by President Reagan, the order states that a CFC objective is "to lessen the burdens of government and of local communities in meeting needs of human health and welfare ..." According to OPM's website, the mission of the CFC "is to promote and support philanthropy through a program that is employee focused, cost-efficient, and effective in providing all federal employees the opportunity to improve the quality of life for all".
The Minerals Management Service (MMS) was an agency of the United States Department of the Interior that managed the nation's natural gas, oil and other mineral resources on the outer continental shelf (OCS).
GLIFAA is the officially recognized organization representing lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender etc. (LGBT+) personnel and their families in the United States Department of State, U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), Foreign Commercial Service, Foreign Agricultural Service, and other agencies and entities working in foreign affairs in the U.S. Government. The acronym comes from its original name, Gays and Lesbians in Foreign Affairs Agencies. As of 2014, the organization goes by GLIFAA and uses the slogan "LGBT+ pride in foreign affairs agencies" to underscore its inclusive composition. GLIFAA was founded in 1992 by fewer than a dozen employees who faced official harassment and potential loss of their jobs because of their sexual orientation. The organization has grown to hundreds of Foreign Service, Civil Service, and contract personnel and their families serving in Washington, throughout the U.S., and at U.S. embassies and missions around the world. Members also include retirees and straight allies in government agencies, while other supporters are affiliate members.
The Presidential Management Fellows (PMF) Program is a two-year training and leadership development program at a United States government agency, administered by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM), for advanced degree holders. After completing the program, agencies may convert PMFs to permanent federal civilian employees.
The United States federal civil service is the civilian workforce of the United States federal government's departments and agencies. The federal civil service was established in 1871. U.S. state and local government entities often have comparable civil service systems that are modeled on the national system to varying degrees.
Scott Bloch is an American attorney and former political appointee of President George W. Bush. Bloch served as United States Special Counsel from December 12, 2003, when Bush signed his appointment, filling out his five-year statutory term on December 11, 2008.
Barack Obama assumed office as president of the United States on January 20, 2009, and his term ended on January 20, 2017. The president has the authority to nominate members of his Cabinet to the United States Senate for confirmation under the Appointments Clause of the United States Constitution.
Earl Edward Devaney was an American government official who served as inspector general for the United States Department of the Interior and chairman of the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board.
Jeffrey Dunston Zients is an American business executive and a government official in the administration of U.S. president Joe Biden. Zients is currently serving as the 31st White House chief of staff. Earlier in the Biden administration, he served as counselor to the president and White House coronavirus response coordinator from January 2021 to April 2022.
Christine M. Griffin is an American lawyer. From 2011 to 2013 she served as Assistant Secretary for Disability Policies and Programs for the Massachusetts Executive Office of Health and Human Services.
Golinski v. Office of Personnel Management, 824 F. Supp. 2d 968, was a lawsuit filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. The plaintiff, Karen Golinski, challenged the constitutionality of section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which defined, for the purposes of federal law, marriage as being between one man and one woman, and spouse as a husband or wife of the opposite sex.
Stewart Liff is an American author and management consultant known for his work in Human Resources Management, Performance Management, Visual Management and team development. Liff has served in various senior government personnel and management positions and as a consultant and teacher to government agencies and businesses. He has written seven books, is a frequent conference speaker, and is a regular contributing author to government and professional publications.
Elaine Debra Kaplan is the chief judge of the United States Court of Federal Claims. She served as General Counsel of the United States Office of Personnel Management from 2009 to 2013, and as acting director of the office in 2013.
The Office of Personnel Management data breach was a 2015 data breach targeting Standard Form 86 (SF-86) U.S. government security clearance records retained by the United States Office of Personnel Management (OPM). One of the largest breaches of government data in U.S. history, the attack was carried out by an advanced persistent threat based in China, widely believed to be the Jiangsu State Security Department, a subsidiary of the Government of China's Ministry of State Security spy agency.
Katherine L. Archuleta is an American teacher and a political executive. She was the director of the United States Office of Personnel Management. President Barack Obama appointed her on May 23, 2013. She was sworn in on November 4, 2013. She had previously served as National Political Director for Obama's 2012 reelection campaign. Prior to that, she had been executive director of the National Hispanic Cultural Center Foundation in New Mexico, had co-founded the Latina Initiative, had worked at a Denver law firm, and had worked in the Clinton Administration as chief of staff to the Secretary of Transportation, Federico Peña. She became embroiled in controversy after the disclosure of a massive national security breach in June 2015. The hack involved the theft of millions of federal employee records and included security-clearance details dating back 15 years, which prompted lawmakers from both political parties to demand that she resign. On July 10, 2015, Archuleta tendered her resignation.
Kiran Arjandas Ahuja is an American attorney and activist who served as the director of the United States Office of Personnel Management (OPM). She served as the chief of staff to the OPM director from 2015 to 2017. She assumed that position after serving for six years as the director of the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. An Indian-born American, she has also been a lawyer with the United States Department of Justice and a founding director of a non-profit, the National Asian Pacific American Women's Forum. In 2017, she became the CEO of Philanthropy Northwest.
Randy William Berry is an American diplomat and the United States ambassador to Namibia since February 9, 2023. He has previously served as the United States ambassador to Nepal and the first U.S. special envoy for the human rights of LGBTI persons.
The 2017 United States federal hiring freeze was instituted by the Presidential Memorandum signed by President Donald Trump on January 23, 2017. Trump and Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney ordered the hiring freeze lifted on April 12, 2017.
