Deplorable:
The incoming Trump administration is preparing executive orders aimed at the federal workforce that could be implemented within days, kicking off an effort they see as essential for wresting power away from career government employees, according to four people familiar with the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe internal conversations.
House Republican leaders are also gearing up to enact their own curbs on federal workers this spring, which could include significant cuts to employee benefits, said two other people, who also spoke on the condition of anonymity to reflect internal conversations, as well as a document circulating on Capitol Hill.
The executive actions under consideration include measures to weaken the power of federal employee unions by stripping workers of collective bargaining rights they’ve had for four decades, the people said. Trump aide Stephen Miller told GOP congressional leadership Sunday that the administration may also move quickly to undo federal diversity initiatives, according to two people familiar with a call he held, speaking on the condition of anonymity to describe the private talk. Miller also said the administration would order some teleworking federal workers back to the office and push to reinstate a policy to reclassify tens of thousands of career civil servants so they have fewer job protections, other people familiar with the call said.
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Trump officials have promised to scrap programs set in motion by the Biden administration devoted to advancing diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) and direct agencies to find efficiencies that could result in staff cuts. While the precise timing of these measures remains unclear, several people in contact with Trump transition officials said they could come in the first week of his administration.
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The efforts on Capitol Hill and in the transition represent the GOP’s first efforts to make good on Trump’s vow to rein in a federal bureaucracy that he and his allies have long derided as a “deep state” bent on disrupting his agenda.
Trump’s aides have already prepared upward of 200 executive orders on everything from tariffs to immigration, but his allies view taking on 2.3 million career civil servants as crucial to the administration’s goals.
Trump clashed repeatedly with federal workers during his first term, accusing them of resisting his policies. But he made little headway in reducing the workforce or diluting its power. Now, he and incoming officials have made clear that they want to more aggressively confront the career employees who stay on through every administration, a group they perceive as filled with liberals likely to try to block his plans. Some moves are likely to set off an immediate court challenge, including from federal labor unions.
“From day one, they need to be very clear: The president is elected by the American people, and the bureaucrats are not, and they’ll either implement what Trump wants — or they’ll be gone,” said Newt Gingrich, a Trump ally who was speaker of the House in the 1990s. Gingrich compared Trump’s move to purge the civil service with President Abraham Lincoln’s decision to force out Confederate sympathizers during the Civil War. “Trump certainly has the ability to suspend union contracts — I’m confident he has lawyers working out right now how to make that happen quickly.”
Advisers from the “Department of Government Efficiency,” an outside group led by billionaires Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, working with experts in the civil service who served at the White House in Trump’s first term, have been also working since the election to find administrative actions to reduce the size of the workforce without going through Congress, aware that they could run into opposition in the closely divided Senate.
Until late last week, attorneys planning to serve in the new administration were reviewing possible executive orders and assessing which to issue right away, and which could bring legal challenges or take time to implement. The directive known as Schedule F, for example, which Trump issued near the end of his first term to replace thousands of high-ranking civil servants with political loyalists, was quickly rescinded by President Joe Biden. Biden then issued a regulation to make it harder for Trump to revive it, likely requiring the new administration to issue a new rule if it wants to reinstate the policy. Miller told GOP leaders that Schedule F would soon be re-issued, a third person familiar with that call said.
The Trump transition team did not respond to a request for comment.
Experts on the federal workforce warn that Trump’s plans could diminish critical capabilities of the U.S. government. While Musk and Ramaswamy have claimed their ranks can be reduced with little effect on services, federal workers are often essential for safeguarding functions such as clean drinking water, air traffic, pension checks and thousands of other daily operations.
The incoming Trump administration is preparing executive orders aimed at the federal workforce that could be implemented within days, kicking off an effort they see as essential for wresting power away from career government employees, according to four people familiar with the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe internal conversations.
House Republican leaders are also gearing up to enact their own curbs on federal workers this spring, which could include significant cuts to employee benefits, said two other people, who also spoke on the condition of anonymity to reflect internal conversations, as well as a document circulating on Capitol Hill.
The executive actions under consideration include measures to weaken the power of federal employee unions by stripping workers of collective bargaining rights they’ve had for four decades, the people said. Trump aide Stephen Miller told GOP congressional leadership Sunday that the administration may also move quickly to undo federal diversity initiatives, according to two people familiar with a call he held, speaking on the condition of anonymity to describe the private talk. Miller also said the administration would order some teleworking federal workers back to the office and push to reinstate a policy to reclassify tens of thousands of career civil servants so they have fewer job protections, other people familiar with the call said.
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Trump officials have promised to scrap programs set in motion by the Biden administration devoted to advancing diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) and direct agencies to find efficiencies that could result in staff cuts. While the precise timing of these measures remains unclear, several people in contact with Trump transition officials said they could come in the first week of his administration.
💻
Follow Technology
The efforts on Capitol Hill and in the transition represent the GOP’s first efforts to make good on Trump’s vow to rein in a federal bureaucracy that he and his allies have long derided as a “deep state” bent on disrupting his agenda.
Trump’s aides have already prepared upward of 200 executive orders on everything from tariffs to immigration, but his allies view taking on 2.3 million career civil servants as crucial to the administration’s goals.
Trump clashed repeatedly with federal workers during his first term, accusing them of resisting his policies. But he made little headway in reducing the workforce or diluting its power. Now, he and incoming officials have made clear that they want to more aggressively confront the career employees who stay on through every administration, a group they perceive as filled with liberals likely to try to block his plans. Some moves are likely to set off an immediate court challenge, including from federal labor unions.
“From day one, they need to be very clear: The president is elected by the American people, and the bureaucrats are not, and they’ll either implement what Trump wants — or they’ll be gone,” said Newt Gingrich, a Trump ally who was speaker of the House in the 1990s. Gingrich compared Trump’s move to purge the civil service with President Abraham Lincoln’s decision to force out Confederate sympathizers during the Civil War. “Trump certainly has the ability to suspend union contracts — I’m confident he has lawyers working out right now how to make that happen quickly.”
Advisers from the “Department of Government Efficiency,” an outside group led by billionaires Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, working with experts in the civil service who served at the White House in Trump’s first term, have been also working since the election to find administrative actions to reduce the size of the workforce without going through Congress, aware that they could run into opposition in the closely divided Senate.
Until late last week, attorneys planning to serve in the new administration were reviewing possible executive orders and assessing which to issue right away, and which could bring legal challenges or take time to implement. The directive known as Schedule F, for example, which Trump issued near the end of his first term to replace thousands of high-ranking civil servants with political loyalists, was quickly rescinded by President Joe Biden. Biden then issued a regulation to make it harder for Trump to revive it, likely requiring the new administration to issue a new rule if it wants to reinstate the policy. Miller told GOP leaders that Schedule F would soon be re-issued, a third person familiar with that call said.
The Trump transition team did not respond to a request for comment.
Experts on the federal workforce warn that Trump’s plans could diminish critical capabilities of the U.S. government. While Musk and Ramaswamy have claimed their ranks can be reduced with little effect on services, federal workers are often essential for safeguarding functions such as clean drinking water, air traffic, pension checks and thousands of other daily operations.
