OPM Responds to Zika Virus by Streamlining Agency Hiring

Government Executive: With the Zika viris continuing to spread from Central and Latin America, the Office of Personnel Management on Friday announced it is allowing streamlined hiring of specialists at the Health and Human Services and State departments, as well as at the U.S. Agency for International Development.

As part of the Obama administration’s “whole of government” approach, the coordinated move to provide direct hiring authority follows a Feb. 22 White House request for $1.9 billion to combat the mosquito-borne disease that causes birth defects and can be transmitted through sex.

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