{"id":21817,"date":"2025-02-15T16:37:52","date_gmt":"2025-02-15T16:37:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/?p=21817"},"modified":"2025-02-15T16:37:52","modified_gmt":"2025-02-15T16:37:52","slug":"trump-musks-latest-moves-to-shrink-the-federal-workforce-explained","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/?p=21817","title":{"rendered":"Trump, Musk\u2019s latest moves to shrink the federal workforce explained"},"content":{"rendered":"

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President Trump and right-hand man Elon Musk have rolled out a series of moves to cull the federal workforce, forging ahead with numerous methods to fire employees that have already sparked legal challenges.<\/p>\n

The latest actions\u00a0<\/strong>come as the Trump administration closed out its government buyout program \u2014 an offer that came with a warning that \u201cthe majority of federal agencies are likely to be downsized through restructurings, realignments, and reductions in force.\u201d<\/p>\n

Agencies are now seeing that in real time, with thousands of people already let go and additional plans\u00a0to boot employees underway.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe people voted for major government reform and that\u2019s what the people are going to get,\u201d Musk said in an Oval Office meeting alongside Trump this week.<\/p>\n

The Trump administration has turned to three different tools to shrink the workforce.<\/p>\n

Probationary firings<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The Office of Personnel Management\u00a0<\/strong>(OPM) on Thursday directed agencies across government to\u00a0terminate government employees still on probation<\/a>.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a group that includes those hired in the last year or two years, depending on their agency \u2014 a group as large as 200,000 employees.<\/p>\n

The move started with probationary employees hired by the OPM itself\u00a0\u2014 and they\u2019ve been creeping up since.<\/p>\n

On Friday, the Department of the Interior\u00a0fired\u00a02,300 employees<\/a>, the Department of Veterans Affairs\u00a0fired 1,000<\/a>, while Health and Human Services\u00a0expected to fire\u00a05,200 people<\/a>.\u00a0Other agencies likewise\u00a0telegraphed their\u00a0terminations<\/u><\/a>.<\/p>\n

While employees on probation are easier to remove than those with longer federal service, they do still have some protections.<\/p>\n

Employee unions and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) have questioned the legality of the move.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0ACLU argues the law<\/a>\u00a0requires reviewing each employee\u2019s performance on a case-by-case basis, while any large-scale firings would have to follow existing law for shrinking the workforce. Employees must still be informed of \u201cinadequacies\u201d in their performance before being fired, the organization said.<\/p>\n

The American Federation of Government Employees called\u00a0the removals\u00a0a \u201cpolitically driven mass firing spree, targeting employees not because of performance, but because they were hired before Trump took office.\u201d<\/p>\n

The OPM equated probation to a stage in the job application process.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe probationary period is a continuation of the job application process, not an entitlement for permanent employment. Agencies are taking independent action in light of the recent hiring freeze and in support of the President\u2019s broader efforts to restructure and streamline the federal government to better serve the American people at the highest possible standard,\u201d an OPM spokesperson said in a statement.<\/p>\n

Directives for a\u00a0<\/strong>\u2018reduction in force<\/strong>\u2018<\/h2>\n

Trump signed an executive order Tuesday night directing all agencies to prepare for a reduction in force (RIF), clearing the way for \u201clarge-scale\u201d layoffs within the government.<\/p>\n

A\u00a0White House\u00a0fact sheet<\/a>\u00a0describes the order as part of a commitment to \u201creducing the size and scope of the federal government.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis order commences a critical transformation of the Federal bureaucracy,\u201d it\u00a0<\/strong>states, one that focuses on \u201celiminating waste, bloat, and insularity.\u201d<\/p>\n

The order gives government agencies 30 days to develop agency reorganization plans \u2014 laying the foundation for the layoffs.<\/p>\n

From there, agencies must give employees at least 60 days\u2019 notice that a reduction in force is underway, which includes 30 days\u2019 notice to employees who will be removed. The government weighs a variety of factors, such as job performance and veteran status, in determining whom to lay off.<\/p>\n

The order\u00a0also\u00a0aims\u00a0to reduce the size of the workforce through attrition, telling agencies to \u201chire no more than one employee for every four employees that depart from federal service.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s order has\u00a0already spurred a\u00a0lawsuit<\/a>\u00a0from a coalition of unions, which argued it\u00a0<\/strong>doesn\u2019t take into account the usual reasons for igniting a reduction in force.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Order directs agencies to promptly engage in RIFs for none of the specified, allowable reasons, but instead for the purpose of \u2018eliminating waste, bloat, and insularity,\u2019\u201d they wrote.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor example, it tells agencies to prioritize employees who would be nonessential during a lapse of appropriations instead of factors such as tenure and performance.\u201d<\/p>\n

Unions earlier this week also blasted the plans.<\/p>\n

\u201cFiring huge numbers of federal employees won\u2019t decrease the need for government services. It will just make those services harder or impossible to access for everyday Americans, veterans, and seniors who depend on them.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAmericans just want government to work when they need it. These reckless, unjustified cuts will accomplish only two things: huge tax cuts for Musk and Trump\u2019s billionaire buddies and a broken government for the rest of us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Buyout program comes to an end<\/strong><\/h2>\n

This week saw the abrupt end of the buyout program offered by the federal government after a court order Wednesday night cleared the way for the government to close the window on an offer initially proposed with a Feb. 6 deadline for acceptance.<\/p>\n

Some 75,000 federal workers took the deal, which offered eight months of pay and benefits to employees willing to depart government service.<\/p>\n

At roughly 4 percent of the federal workforce, the figure fell short of the 5 percent to 10 percent projections first floated by the White House.<\/p>\n

Unions had likewise cautioned against accepting the buyouts.<\/p>\n

Many of the\u00a0contract terms conflicted<\/a>\u00a0with one another, while the end of government funding in March posed\u00a0legal and logistical challenges<\/a>, including raising doubts about whether the Trump administration would make good on the deal.<\/p>\n

Regardless, the closing of the offer enabled the\u00a0Trump administration\u00a0to proceed with its other plans, including its push with probationary employees and to ignite a reduction in force.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, look, that\u2019s 75,000 more than we would have had,\u201d Trump said Friday.<\/p>\n

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\u201cNo, 75,000 is a lot of people. And we paid them well. You know, we gave them a lot of months of severance pay, if you call it that. But, no I think you\u2019ll probably have some more, too, in addition. It\u2019s a big, tremendous saving. We want to downsize government but make it better. Run it better, but downsize.\u201d<\/p>\n

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