Latest news with #CharlesEzell
Fox News
01-07-2025
- Business
- Fox News
'Only the beginning': Trump admin releases data showing federal workforce slashed since January
FIRST ON FOX: The Trump administration released data on Tuesday morning showing that it had slashed the federal government workforce, while promising that there is more to come as Trump continues his push to rid the government of waste. Data released by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) shows that the United States employs 2,289,472 federal workers as of March 31, which is down from 2,313,216 on September 30, 2024. The reduction of more than 23,000 positions "reflects the administration's early efforts to streamline government and eliminate unnecessary bureaucracy," OPM said in a press release. "The American people deserve a government that is lean, efficient, and focused on core priorities," Acting OPM Director Charles Ezell said in a statement. "This data marks the first measurable step toward President Trump's vision of a disciplined, accountable federal workforce, and it's only the beginning." Trump signed an executive order in February instructing the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to coordinate with federal agencies and execute massive cuts in federal government staffing numbers. That order is reflected in the new data, OPM said, showing that agencies averaged 23,000 new monthly hires from April 2024 to January 2025 but dropped by nearly 70% to just 7,385 per month once the freeze was fully implemented. The agency said the cuts saved the taxpayers "billions." OPM added that "hundreds of thousands more workers" will drop from the rolls in October 2025, when more workers depart via the Deferred Resignation Program that was offered to employees in an effort to trim the workforce. Tens of thousands of employees who are in the process of being terminated remain on the government payroll due to court orders that are currently being challenged by the administration, OPM says. Trump's effort to shrink the federal workforce has faced stiff resistance from Democrats and various courts, with critics saying that the administration is cutting critical jobs. "It's a judge that's putting himself in the position of the President of the United States, who was elected by close to 80 million votes," Trump said aboard Air Force One on a flight back to Washington in March, after a federal judge blocked one of his efforts to fire federal workers. "That's a very dangerous thing for our country. And I would suspect that we're going to have to get a decision from the Supreme Court." Last month, OPM unveiled a new rule it said will make it easier to terminate federal employees for serious misconduct by cutting through the red tape that currently impedes that process. Fox News Digital reported in 2023 that under current law, the vast majority of the federal workforce is not at-will and may only be terminated for misconduct, poor performance, medical inability or reduction in force. Federal employees are also entitled to sweeping due process rights when fired, which can create a cumbersome process for agencies to remove a worker.
E&E News
25-06-2025
- Politics
- E&E News
Who could be fired more easily? Interior is not saying.
The Interior Department will not disclose which career staffers they have proposed to join a contentious new classification of employees who could be fired more easily. Interior detailed the kind of civil servants who could be reclassified into the category known as 'Schedule Policy/Career' in documents obtained by POLITICO's E&E News under the Freedom of Information Act. In a May letter to Office of Personnel Management acting Director Charles Ezell, a top Interior official said the covered jobs could include staffers who draft policies, supervise attorneys and work directly with officials in a position at the GS-13 level or above. But Interior redacted an attached spreadsheet — blacking out 273 pages — that listed the positions under consideration to be moved into the new category, which would be stripped of civil service protections for federal jobs. Interior said that information is exempt from disclosure, considering the documents are 'both predecisional and deliberative' and don't represent agency policies or decisions. Advertisement In an April fact sheet about the new job category, the White House said the change will both allow agencies to more easily fire 'poor performers,' as well as help ensure that the federal bureaucracy is implementing President Donald Trump's agenda. But advocates for federal workers say the proposal could threaten the modern civil service system that maintains continuity and expertise within the government as different political parties assume power.
New York Times
06-06-2025
- Politics
- New York Times
How to Stack the Federal Work Force With ‘Patriotic Americans' Who Agree With Trump
The White House took a step last week that significantly undercuts the idea that federal employment should be nonpartisan. A May 29 memo from the Office of Personnel Management may seem technical, but the policy that it outlines has grave implications for how the government functions and creates an unconstitutional political test for federal hiring. At heart, the new policy is about viewpoint discrimination: People applying for federal jobs whose views the Trump administration does not like will not be hired. This is the most recent of the administration's actions to undermine the nonpartisan Civil Service and consolidate control over almost all federal employees in the White House. In a densely worded, 12-page memo, Vince Haley, an assistant to the president for domestic policy, and Charles Ezell, the acting O.P.M. director, make fealty to the president's agenda a criterion for hiring for most federal positions. Imposing such a litmus test for nonpolitical positions runs afoul of the nearly 150-year-old federal Civil Service law, the 1939 Hatch Act and the First Amendment. Under federal law, about 4,000 federal jobs are filled by political appointees. These positions allow the president to appoint those who share his views and to remove those who do not support his policy priorities. Most remaining federal jobs are hired based on nonpartisan and objective assessments of merit, and the hiring criteria are tied to the job duties. The recent memo would, in effect, dramatically expand that exception for political appointees to include everyone at what's known as level GS-5 or above — a group that includes clerical positions, technicians for soil conservation and firefighters. The ideologies and views of these individuals should play no role in their potential hiring. The policy announced in the memo requires every person applying for a position level GS-5 or above to submit four essays. One requires that the applicant address: 'How would you help advance the president's executive orders and policy priorities in this role? Identify one or two relevant executive orders or policy initiatives that are significant to you, and explain how you would help implement them if hired.' Another prompt: 'How has your commitment to the Constitution and the founding principles of the United States inspired you to pursue this role within the federal government? Provide a concrete example from professional, academic or personal experience.' Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
E&E News
30-05-2025
- Business
- E&E News
Trump admin to prioritize ‘patriotic Americans' for fed jobs
As President Donald Trump moves to slash the size of the federal workforce, his administration unveiled a plan to ensure that any new hires are 'patriotic Americans' who vow to advance the president's policy priorities. The White House and the agency that serves as the government's human resources arm Thursday released directives for departments to use when recruiting employees in a memo that represents a dramatic shift in federal hiring procedures. The administration's 'merit hiring plan' comes after Trump ordered a revamp to the federal hiring process on his first day in office. The resulting plan issued this week says it aims to ensure that 'only the most talented, capable and patriotic Americans' are hired by the government. Advertisement The 'overly complex Federal hiring system overemphasized discriminatory 'equity' quotas and too often resulted in the hiring of unfit, unskilled bureaucrats,' says the memo authored by Vince Haley, assistant to the president for domestic policy, and Charles Ezell, the acting director of the Office of Personnel Management.
Yahoo
30-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Trump administration bans race, gender data in federal workforce hiring
The Trump administration directed its agencies to not hire individuals based on their race, sex or religion while it works to overhaul the federal government through major cuts and restructuring. The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) outlined the 'Merit Hiring Plan' in a memo sent to heads and acting heads of departments and agencies on Thursday, which directed them to not use statistics on race, sex, ethnicity, national origin or 'the broader concept of 'underrepresentation'' to hire or recruit. It calls on agencies to stop publishing and distributing information on the composition of the workforce based on race, sex, color, religion or national origin and to end all programs related to hiring that 'discriminate' against groups. OPM says disciplinary action must be taken if a hiring manager engages in any 'unlawful race preferential discrimination.' The plan calls for the end to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs in hiring, calling them 'illegal, demeaning and immoral.' 'OPM is committed to creating a federal workforce that reflects the highest standards of merit and service,' acting director Charles Ezell said in a statement. 'This plan ensures we hire based on talent, dedication, and constitutional principles, delivering a government that works effectively for all Americans.' Another goal of the plan is an effort to 'prevent the hiring of individuals who are unwilling to defend the Constitution or to faithfully serve the Executive Branch.' It prioritizes the hiring of those who are committed to improving government efficiency and decreasing the time-to-hire to under 80 days and 'integrate modern technology to support the recruitment and selection process.' OPM aims to reform the federal workforce recruitment process 'to ensure that only the most talented, capable and patriotic Americans are hired' and to implement skilled-based hiring over 'unnecessary degree requirements.' OPM also announced that on June 30, agency's human capital officers will send reports to OPM and the Office of Management and Budget on recruitment and eliminating such practices the administration deems discriminatory. The Trump administration has been focused on eliminating DEI in the federal government and has threatened to remove federal funding and grants for private institutions if they don't do away with diversity efforts. The administration pushed Harvard University to end DEI programs and to alter its hiring and admissions processes and has cut billions of dollars in federal funding when the university pushed back. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
