US President Donald J. Trump (R) gives remarks to the media in the Oval Office of the White House, as he meets with US entrepreneur and U.S. special government employee Elon Musk (L), in Washington, DC, USA, 11 February 2025. Image: Aaron Schwartz/POOL/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
By: FEDweek StaffPresident Trump late Tuesday told agencies to “promptly undertake preparations to initiate large-scale reductions in force” and that they generally will be allowed to fill only one position for every four vacated by normal attrition.
“All offices that perform functions not mandated by statute or other law shall be prioritized in the RIFs, including all agency diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives; all agency initiatives, components, or operations that my Administration suspends or closes; and all components and employees performing functions not mandated by statute or other law who are not typically designated as essential during a lapse in appropriations as provided in the Agency Contingency Plans on the Office of Management and Budget website,” says the executive order.
The order also tells agencies to move now to separate “temporary employees and reemployed annuitants working in areas that will likely be subject to the RIFs.” That follows a directive to compile lists of employees in probationary status, widely seen as a signal that they also would be among the first to go in a workforce cut, since they lack full appeal rights.
Agencies also previously were told to close and prepare to lay off employees in offices related to DEI and “gender ideology,” and the DOGE office has targeted for closing agencies including USAID and the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau—actions that have resulted in several lawsuits. The “deferred resignation” offer—also the subject of a lawsuit—meanwhile is intended to reduce the workforce by attrition.
The order expands and adds detail to two of Trump’s first directives on taking office. One ordered a general hiring freeze with some exceptions, mainly for immigration enforcement, national security, public safety and provision of Social Security, Medicare or veterans’ benefits.
That order also required OMB and what is now called the U.S. DOGE Service to produce by late April “a plan to reduce the size of the federal government’s workforce through efficiency improvements and attrition.” Although not specified, it was generally assumed that the hiring freeze would expire at the time agencies started putting that plan into effect.
“Firing huge numbers of federal employees won’t decrease the need for government services,” said AFGE National President Everett Kelley, adding, “It will just make those services harder or impossible to access for everyday Americans, veterans, and seniors who depend on them.”
NARFE National President William “Bill” Shackelford asserted that ending functions approved by Congress by gutting the workforce “infringes on Congress’ Article I powers,” and would result in enlarging the government contractor workforce, which is nearly double in size.
DOGE Offices and Hiring Freeze
Yet another early order told agencies to create internal offices to coordinate actions on recommendations of the DOGE office—formerly the U.S. Digital Service—and to provide it access to agency records and IT systems. That similarly has resulted in lawsuits, asserting that privacy and security protections are being violated.
Says a White House fact sheet on the new order, “Agency Heads will coordinate and consult with DOGE to shrink the size of the federal workforce and limit hiring to essential positions . . . Agencies will undertake plans for large-scale reductions in force and determine which agency components (or agencies themselves) may be eliminated or combined because their functions aren’t required by law.”
It adds: “Upon expiration of the Day 1 hiring freeze and implementation of the hiring plan, agencies will be able to hire no more than one employee for every four employees that depart from federal service (with appropriate immigration, law enforcement, and public safety exceptions).”
Hiring decisions would have to be coordinated with agency DOGE team leads, who could prevent filling of a position “unless the Agency Head determines the positions should be filled,” the order says, adding that the IRS would remain subject to a complete hiring freeze.
Among the justifications for the workforce reductions cited in the fact sheet is another repetition of a claim commonly made by Capitol Hill Republicans that “only 6% of federal workers report to work in-person on a full-time basis.” A comprehensive study by OMB last year said that 54 percent of federal employees never work offsite and that who do are onsite on average 60 percent of the time.
Agency Workforces Churn under Impact of Trump Orders, Legal Rulings
Report Questions Using Shutdown Contingency Plan as Guide to RIFs
Funding Bill Passes, With Dem Lawmakers Splintered
Many Thousands More Fired Probationary Employees Ordered Reinstated
Bills on Retirement Benefits, Other Issues Reintroduced
USPS: Outgoing Postmaster Dejoy Announces DOGE Partnership
Review Union Contracts for ‘Unenforceable’ Limits on RIFs, Agencies Told
OMB, OPM Lay Out Goals, Procedures for Agency ‘RIF and Reorganization Plans’
See also,
More Than a Third of Those Eligible under GPO-WEP Repeal Getting Back Payments, Says SSA
Primer: Early out, buyout, reduction in force (RIF)
Deferred and Postponed Annuities Under CSRS and FERS
Taking an Offer to Leave? Things to Do Now, and to Consider
Get Your Official Personnel Folder in Order to Max Out Benefits
