“Us asking is mandatory. We have to include these questions, unless they’ve been specifically exempt. Applicants have the option to respond,” Ciarlante said in a recording of the session, obtained by Federal News Network. “I think some people thought when the guidance came out, it was optional. It’s not optional. We have to ask the questions, but it’s optional whether or not an applicant can choose to respond.”

OPM wrote that the questions “must not be used to impose an ideological litmus test on candidates,” and that a candidate “will not be disqualified or screened out” if they don’t answer the questions.

If applicants respond to the questions, they must certify that they answered them in their own words, and didn’t rely on large language models like ChatGPT to complete the essays.