Trump administration lifts hiring freeze, agencies to file plans for staff reductions

A federal hiring freeze imposed during the first days of President Donald Trump's administration has been lifted, allowing departments and agencies to hire again but under new directives.

The hiring freeze was expected to be lifted this month after the director of the White House Office of Management and Budget recommended a plan to reduce the size of the federal workforce through attrition.

Trump's budget director, Mick Mulvaney, on April 12 issued a memo to the heads of executive departments and agencies outlining a plan to reform the federal government and reduce the federal civilian workforce.

"What we're doing tomorrow is replacing the across-the-board hiring freeze that we put into place on day one in office, and replacing it with a smarter plan, a more strategic plan, a more surgical plan," Mulvaney said during a press briefing April 11.

The lifted ban "does not mean that the agencies will be free to hire willy-nilly," Mulvaney said.

Guided by Trump's priorities, some agencies will end up hiring more people and others will cut the size of their workforce, Mulvaney said. For instance, given proposed budget cuts to the Environmental Protection Agency, that agency will likely have to trim its size, while the Defense Department may increase its staffing, he said.

"We think we can run the government more efficiently than the previous administration can, and we think we can run the government with fewer people than the previous administration had," Mulvaney added.

Reuters reported on April 13 that the hiring freeze remained in place for the State Department, "until the plan to downsize and reorganize had been fully developed."

Mulvaney's memo directs agencies to submit an Agency Reform Plan in September 2017 that details long-term workforce reductions. A draft is due by the end of June 2017.

Pending the submission of plans and the reduction of federal jobs through attrition, we continue to rate this promise In the Works.