President Donald Trump ordered the government Friday to offer salaries as high as $400,000 to attract 400 new federal hires capable of hammering out deals that would wean the U.S. from dependence on China for critical minerals.
In a memo to Office of Personnel Management Director Scott Kupor, Trump called for using critical position pay to allow agencies to hire up to 400 experts in investment, engineering, finance and law as part of a national security investment workforce.
The U.S. needs “a workforce capable of executing major investment programs at the scale and speed required to reduce dependence on foreign sources, strengthen industrial resilience, and protect the Nation’s long‑term strategic interests,” the memo to the OPM chief states.
The administration is pushing an aggressive multiprong strategy to secure domestic production and international supplies of minerals and rare earths through deals, private equity stakes, stockpiling and price controls. Some of those deals are drawing increased scrutiny on Capitol Hill.
