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NFFE
National Federation of
Federal Employees
Chicago, IL
We Work for America
Everyday
FEDweek PM Update
Wednesday, February 12, 2025
Start Planning for ‘Large-Scale’ RIFs, Trump Tells Agencies
President 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.
“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.
U.S. DOGE Service to produce a plan by late April
