Trump Administration Seting the Stage for Large-Scale Worker Layoffs, Downsizing!

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WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal agencies must develop plans to eliminate employee positions, according to a memo distributed Wednesday by President Donald Trump 's administration that sets in motion what could become a sweeping realignment of American government.

The memo expands the Republican president's effort to downsize the federal workforce, which he has described as an impediment to his agenda. Thousands of probationary employees have already been fired, and now his administration is turning its attention to career officials with civil service protection.

"We're cutting down the size of government. We have to," Trump said during the first Cabinet meeting of his second term. "We're bloated. We're sloppy. We have a lot of people that aren't doing their job."

The ripple effects will be felt around the country. Roughly four-fifths of federal workers live outside the Washington area, and government services — patent approvals, food inspections, park maintenance and more — could be hindered depending on how cuts are handled.

Resistance is expected. Labor unions, Democratic state leaders and other organizations have tried, with some success, to slow Trump down with litigation, while Republicans are growing more concerned about how a slash-and-burn strategy could affect their constituents.

Agencies are directed to submit by March 13 their plans for what is known as a reduction in force, which would not only lay off employees but eliminate the position altogether. The result could be extensive changes in how government functions.

More plans are due on April 14, when agencies are expected to outline how they will consolidate management, become more efficient and potentially relocate offices to parts of the country that are less expensive than Washington. The memo said agencies should implement their plans by Sept. 30.

Administration officials framed their effort as a cost-saving measure but with a clear ideological goal.

"The federal government is costly, inefficient, and deeply in debt. At the same time, it is not producing results for the American public," said the memo from Russell Vought, director of the White House's Office of Management and Budget, and Charles Ezell, acting director of the Office of Personnel Management, which functions as a human resources agency. "Instead, tax dollars are being siphoned off to fund unproductive and unnecessary programs that benefit radical interest groups while hurting hard-working American citizens."

Vought was an author or Project 2025, a conservative blueprint for Trump's second term, and he has advocated for centralizing power under the presidency and dismantling federal bureaucracy.

"We're not going to save our country without a little confrontation," Vought said last summer during a podcast hosted by Trump ally Stephen Bannon.

Kevin Owen, an employment lawyer who represents federal workers, compared the administration's initiative to the kind of disruptions that are caused by government shutdowns during congressional budget standoffs.

"This looks like a plan for a significant and shocking reduction of the federal workforce that I don't think the American people are prepared for," Owen said. "It's going to cripple a lot of government functions."

He said that Trump and his allies were focusing on speed rather than precision as they overhaul the government.

"Their plan is to do the damage and get sued," he said. If a court ultimately rules against them, "by that point, they would have gotten what they wanted in interim."

Specific targets for reductions were not included in the memo, but Trump said the Environmental Protection Agency could cut its workforce by 65%.

Trump foreshadowed the effort in an executive order that he signed with Elon Musk, the billionaire entrepreneur who oversees the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, known as DOGE.

The order said agency leaders "shall promptly undertake preparations to initiate large-scale reductions in force," or RIF.

Some departments have already begin this process. The General Services Administration, which handles federal real estate, told employees on Monday that a reduction in force was underway and they would "everything in our power to make your departure fair and dignified."

Law enforcement, national security, public safety, military positions and U.S. Postal Service positions are exempt.

The memo was released shortly before Trump convened Cabinet officials as well as Musk, who attended the meeting wearing a black "Make America Great Again" campaign hat.

Musk described himself during the meeting as "humble tech support" for the federal government, and he talked about his cost-cutting crusade in existential terms.

"If we don't do this, America will go bankrupt," he said.

Musk has caused turmoil within the federal workforce, most recently by demanding that employees justify their jobs or risk getting fired. OPM later said that the edict was voluntary, although workers could face similar requests in the future.

He described his request as a "pulse check."

"Are these people real? Are they alive? And can they write an email?" he said.

Before the meeting, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters that "all of the Cabinet secretaries take the advice and direction of DOGE."

"They'll be providing updates on their efforts, and they'll also be providing updates on what they're doing at their agencies in terms of policies and implementing the promises that the president made on the campaign trail," Leavitt said.

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If done well the effort will do a lot of good in slimming down an overly large federal government. Every few decades the federal government needs to be slimmed down because government by its nature tends to grow over the years and end up bigger and more expensive than needed to carry out the tasks Congress has assigned to the executive branch.

The key, however, is doing it well. Having worked for many years for the federal government I am familiar with reductions in force (RIFs) and have seen what can happen when it goes wrong. I believe that the time scale that the administration wants may well be too short to do the kind of planning that a well executed RIF requires.

I know that presidents want to make a big impact in their first 100 days on the job, as that has long been used by the media to gauge the early efforts of the administration. Executed poorly, though, and the temporary poll bump presidents get by acting quickly can end up being a real mess. Come election time, it's the mess that the public will remember more than the announcements of what the presidence accomplished in the first 100 days.

Having watched Trump for many years I have some doubts as to just how expertly they are approaching these RIFs. It's a lot easier to get rid employees than it is to get them back if the agency later discovers it actually needed those employees, especially for those positions that require people with specialized or hard to find skills.

I hope it all turns out for the better. But Trump and his team I think are vastly overly optimistic in their thinking of how fast agencies can do this stuff and get it right.
 
Yeah this isn't going to work, I know many federal employees who are making there plans to flee the country. Many heading to Scandinavian countries where GPD is well over 100k per person with 4 day work week, and FREE healthcare for all citizens regardless of status or wealth.

The USA will be a corporate ran shell LLC selling only new immigrants an American dream that NO LONGER exists. You will never be able to amass the wealth it will take to live here or the ability to maintain property without being taxed out of its ownership. The exodus has already begun.
 
It was pretty clear that trump was going to do this, yet despite the very clear writing on the wall, he was voted in. Now all of us have to deal with the consequences of this president and his carless whims.
 
It was pretty clear that trump was going to do this, yet despite the very clear writing on the wall, he was voted in. Now all of us have to deal with the consequences of this president and his carless whims.

I wonder what Vance is thinking? I mean when you had Musk rolling around flashing a Tech Support shirt- Vance was in cringe mode. I can tell he is not with this and any chance he had of winning President in 4 years is being dumped out the window.
 
I wonder what Vance is thinking? I mean when you had Musk rolling around flashing a Tech Support shirt- Vance was in cringe mode. I can tell he is not with this and any chance he had of winning President in 4 years is being dumped out the window.
In reality, anyone that supported trump, by word or deed, is "with this". We know, or should have known, that trump is a lying felon that will do anything to be powerful. He will stomp on our rule of law and our constitution. We know this about him.

IMO most everyone that voted for him found it perfectly fine for trump to attack some people (LGBTQ, minorities, non-MAGA), but when he very predictably goes after the job of "good, Christian, hardworking white folk", they are shocked and awed.

trump and his minions don't give a damn about middle class Joe and Jane America... they care only for themselves, power and their bank account.

So... if you voted for trump, this is what you voted for and supported.

And it brings be no joy or satisfaction to say this. I wish I was wrong, and he would do better that I believed he would.

But trump is exactly what he presents, a lying, bloviating, narcissistic, abusive, hate-filled, vengeful, power monger that will hurt this country in the upcoming years.

I pray we do better next time.
 

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