Kupor: Federal government relied on self-attestation without skill tests for 42 years
Scott Kupor · America’s New AI Strategy: "We're Building a Tech Force" · Joe Lonsdale · Dec 18, 2025 · at 18:36
Scott Kupor, Director of OPM, outlines the history of federal hiring practices following the late-1970s elimination of standardized aptitude and functional exams.
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“Literally for like 42 years basically the government did away with any form of test, not just like that pace test, which was kind of a, an aptitude test and a leadership test, but also any kind of like Functional tests... We literally relied on self-attestation of a candidate of their skill set in order to hire them in government.”
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