President Donald Trump late on Tuesday issued an executive order that aims to make deep cuts to the Federal government civilian workforce via “reductions in force” – more commonly known as layoffs.
The order says that Federal agency heads “shall promptly undertake preparations to initiate large-scale reductions in force (RIFs), consistent with applicable law.”
It emphasizes that agencies should focus on cutting employees deemed not to be related to agency functions that have been authorized by congressional statutes.
President Trump’s action “commences a critical transformation of the Federal bureaucracy” and aims to “restore accountability to the American public,” the order says.
“By eliminating waste, bloat, and insularity, my Administration will empower American families, workers, taxpayers, and our system of Government itself,” the order issued by President Trump says.
The order does not apply to wide swaths of the government workforce including military personnel, and the coming RIFs “shall not apply to functions related to public safety, immigration enforcement, or law enforcement,” the order says.
The Office of Personnel Management also “may grant exemptions from this order where those exemptions are otherwise necessary and shall assist in promoting workforce reduction,” the order says.
The order also exempts the Executive Office of the President.
The executive order does not state any specific number of jobs being targeted for elimination in the coming wave of layoffs. An accompanying “fact sheet” issued by the White House does state, however, that “there are too many federal employees.”
However, Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., ranking member of the House Oversight and Reform Committee, said in a statement Tuesday night that the layoffs may number in the hundreds of thousands of people.
“This is a dark day for the United States Government,” the congressman said. “The mass indiscriminate firing of hundreds of thousands of dedicated, nonpartisan civil servants by a wannabe Dictator and his unelected pet billionaire will have an immediate and devastating impact on the integrity and capability of our federal workforce.”
“Worse yet, it is the American people who will suffer as vital aid is delayed, calls to Social Security offices go unanswered, and communities are deprived of critical resources and services,” Rep. Connolly said.
“The loss of these services will affect health care, childcare, veterans benefits, social security benefits, Meals on Wheels, Head Start, our national parks, cancer research, student loans, farm payments, and a myriad of others services in red and blue communities alike,” he said.
“America won’t look like America if this wrecking ball wields it reckless destruction,” he said, while pledging fierce resistance to the White House order.
“We are going to fight every way we can: in the courts, in public opinion, with the bully pulpit, in the halls of Congress, and in every community across this country,” Rep. Connolly said. “We are not going to let this injustice happen.”
Orders to Agencies
Beyond the instruction to “promptly undertake” the large-scale layoffs, the order also says agencies will “separate from Federal service temporary employees and reemployed annuitants working in areas that will likely be subject” to the reductions in force.
The order appears to target agency functions that are not specified in authorizing statutes approved by Congress.
“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” and not typically designated as essential during lapses in congressional appropriations, the order says.
The order also says that OPM within 30 days shall begin a rulemaking to create additional criteria for RIFs, including:
“(i) failure to comply with generally applicable legal obligations, including timely filing of tax returns;
(ii) failure to comply with any provision that would preclude regular Federal service, including citizenship requirements;
(iii) refusal to certify compliance with any applicable nondisclosure obligations, consistent with 5 U.S.C. 2302(b)(13), and failure to adhere to those compliance obligations in the course of Federal employment; and
(iv) theft or misuse of Government resources and equipment, or negligent loss of material Government resources and equipment.”
Finally, under the heading of “Developing Agency Reorganization Plans,” the order says that agency heads have 30 days to submit to the Office of Management and Budget “a report that identifies any statutes that establish the agency, or subcomponents of the agency, as statutorily required entities.”
“The report shall discuss whether the agency or any of its subcomponents should be eliminated or consolidated,” the order says.
And within eight months, the U.S. DOGE Service is tasked with giving the president an implementation report on the layoffs order, “including a recommendation as to whether any of its provisions should be extended, modified, or terminated.”
Future Hiring Restrictions
The order references President Trump’s Jan. 20 order for a Federal hiring freeze, and says the Feb. 11 order does not impact the earlier order, which has a requirement that agencies “hire no more than one employee for every four employees that depart.”
The latest order says that agency heads will “develop a data-driven plan, in consultation with its DOGE Team Lead, to ensure new career appointment hires are in highest-need areas.”
