Court filings claim federal job applicants can’t skip OPM ‘loyalty question’ despite it being labeled optional

Court filings cited by unions allege federal job applicants are effectively required to answer an OPM “loyalty” essay question even though OPM says it is optional and won’t disqualify candidates who skip it. The dispute raises concerns about how applications are screened and whether applicants are being deterred or improperly filtered during the hiring process.