President Trump is expected to lift a federal hiring freeze on Wednesday that he had implemented during his first days in office.
However, Office and Management and Budget (OMB) Director Mick Mulvaney on Tuesday told reporters many jobs will remain unfilled because the Trump administration wants to continue reducing the executive branch workforce. That move is intended to follow through on Trump campaign promise to “drain the swamp.”
“It does not mean that the agencies will be free to hire willy-nilly,” Mulvaney said to the AP. “What we’re doing tomorrow is replacing the across-the-board hiring freeze that we put into place on Day One in office and replacing it with a smarter plan, a more strategic plan, a more surgical plan.”
Trump’s late January hiring freeze allowed only personnel deemed necessary for national security and public safety be hired. The executive memo charged OMB with developing a long-term plan to shrink the federal government at the end of the 90-day freeze.
Mulvaney has not clarified how many jobs the administration plans to cut in the long run. However, the White House budget – released last month – calls for cuts and increases to various departments, including a 6 percent increase in funding to the Department of Veterans’ Affairs. The changes give a hint to where the administration plans to cut nonessential employees and save money.
Federal agencies will have until June to submit plans for how they can make cuts.
