WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump instituted a government-wide hiring freeze Monday, signing a presidential memorandum that would affect a large swath of the government but leave wide latitude for exemptions for those working in the military, national security and public safety.
The move – coming on the new president’s first full working day in the White House – represents the opening salvo in what could be the most concerted effort to overhaul the federal workforce in 35 years.
Critiquing the Washington establishment was central to Trump’s campaign, and he placed federal employees at the center of his effort to “clean up corruption and special interest in Washington D.C.” His “Contract with the American Voter” listed a hiring freeze as a key element. It was one of several executive actions he issued Monday, including ones to withdraw from the Trans-Pacific Partnership and to block U.S. funds from being distributed to international organizations that perform or discuss abortions.
Trump’s memorandum states that “no vacant positions existing at noon on January 22, 2017, may be filled and no new positions may be created, except in limited circumstances,” although the freeze does not apply to military personnel.
“The head of any executive department or agency may exempt from the hiring freeze any positions that it deems necessary to meet national security or public safety responsibilities,” it reads, adding the head of the Office of Personnel Management can allow for hiring “where those exemptions are otherwise necessary.”
Speaking to reporters Monday, White House press secretary Sean Spicer said there has been “a lack of respect for taxpayer dollars in this town for a long time, and I think what the president’s showing through the hiring freeze ... is that we’ve got to respect the American taxpayer.”
“Some people are working two, three jobs just to get by,” he added. “And to see money get wasted in Washington on a job that is duplicative is insulting to the hard work that they do to pay their taxes.”
House Government Reform and Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, who is hoping to enact broader civil-service changes that could make it easier to remove workers for misconduct and replace federal pensions with retirement plans often used in the private sector, said in an interview that he was “very supportive of freezing the net numbers of federal employees.”
But he said some agencies, including the U.S. Secret Service and those dealing with cybersecurity operations, had to be able to fill open positions.
“The president is obviously working to fulfill a campaign promise. I concur with the goal,” he said. “In terms of the details on the execution, we would love to work with him.”
