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The Trump administration moved forward Wednesday with its plans to conduct large-scale layoffs across agencies, the latest move to downsize the federal workforce.
The Office of Management and Budget and the Office of Personnel Management issued a memo to agency leaders with guidance on how to conduct their reductions in force, known as RIFs, and the reorganizations plans, taking another step to carry out President Donald Trump’s executive order entitled “Implementing The President’s ‘Department of Government Efficiency’ Workforce Optimization Initiative.”
The memo comes as the Trump administration is conducting a multi-pronged effort to overhaul federal operations and shed employees. In less than six weeks, it has laid off tens of thousands of probationary workers, placed other employees on administrative leave, offered a deferred resignation package and ordered staffers to return to the office full time.
The moves, along with a confusing weekend demand that staffers list their activities of the past week, have ratcheted up the anxiety levels of many federal workers, who until now had felt they had some job security. The federal government has not conducted a widespread reduction in force since the Clinton administration in the 1990s.
According to Wednesday’s memo, the principles to guide the agencies include conducting “a significant reduction” in the number of federal workers by eliminating positions that are not needed and reducing federal property holdings and budget, as well as providing better service to Americans and increasing productivity, according to the memo.
The first phase includes submitting lists of agency divisions and employees performing functions not mandated by law or regulation who are not considered essential employees during government shutdowns. The plans should also include lists of all jobs categorized as essential, of agency divisions that provide direct service to Americans and of any statutes that establish the agency, as well as the tools the agencies plan to use to reduce their staffs.
Plus, agencies should provide suggestions for how to engage Congress to gain agreement on major restructuring efforts and on moving funds between accounts. The deadline for submitting the plans, which should include an implementation timetables, is no later than March 13.
In the second phase, OMB and OPM are asking for an outline of “a positive vision for more productive, efficient agency operations going forward.” Those are due no later than April 14 and should be implemented by September 30.
The information requested includes an agency’s proposed organizational chart and confirmation that it has reviewed all employees’ job descriptions, recent performance reports, length of service and veterans’ status. OMB and OPM also want to know proposed relocations of offices away from the Washington, DC, metro area and plans to reduce costs and improve efficiency through technology.
Agencies’ plans should also include provisions of union collective bargaining agreements that could inhibit cost-savings and efficiency efforts and proposals to renegotiate those provisions. Also, agencies should provide justifications for excluding programs and divisions from the reductions, as well as areas for future large-scale layoffs.
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And, as in the executive order, the memo notes that future hiring should be limited to one position for every four people who depart.
Exempted from this restructuring are positions in law enforcement, border security, national security, public safety and immigration enforcement, as well as the military and federal uniformed personnel, including the US Coast Guard. Also, the US Postal Service and the executive office of the President are not subject to the memo.
In addition, the guidance notes that any agencies or divisions providing direct services to citizens, such as Social Security, Medicare and veterans’ health care, should not implement any reductions until OMB and OPM certify that the plans would have a “positive effect” on delivering those services.
CNN’s Kevin Liptak contributed to this report.
This story has been updated with additional details.