“President Trump’s action will disrupt government programs and services that benefit everyone and actually increase taxpayer costs by forcing agencies to hire more expensive contractors to do work that civilian government employees are already doing for far less,” said American Federation of Government Employees President J. David Cox Sr. “This hiring freeze will mean longer lines at Social Security offices, fewer workplace safety inspections, less oversight of environmental polluters, and greater risk to our nation’s food supply and clean water systems.”
A hiring freeze was included in the Trump presidential campaign’s “Contract with the American Voter.” It was the second of six measures “to clean up the corruption and special interest collusion in Washington, D.C.” and part of his “100-day action plan to Make America Great Again.”
The contract excluded the “military, public safety, and public health,” but during a signing in the Oval Office Trump only mentioned the military. Read more
Here is the text of the Memorandum:
MEMORANDUM FOR THE HEADS OF EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIES
SUBJECT: Hiring Freeze
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, I hereby order a freeze on the hiring of Federal civilian employees to be applied across the board in the executive branch.
As part of this freeze, no vacant positions existing at noon on January 22, 2017, may be filled and no new positions may be created, except in limited circumstances. This order does not include or 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. In addition, the Director of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) may grant exemptions from this freeze where those exemptions are otherwise necessary.
Within 90 days of the date of this memorandum, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), in consultation with the Director of OPM, shall recommend a long-term plan to reduce the size of the Federal Government’s workforce through attrition. This order shall expire upon implementation of the OMB plan.
Contracting outside the Government to circumvent the intent of this memorandum shall not be permitted.
This hiring freeze applies to all executive departments and agencies regardless of the sources of their operational and programmatic funding, excepting military personnel.
In carrying out this memorandum, I ask that you seek efficient use of existing personnel and funds to improve public services and the delivery of these services. Accordingly, this memorandum does not prohibit making reallocations to meet the highest priority needs and to ensure that essential services are not interrupted and national security is not affected.
This memorandum does not limit the nomination and appointment of officials to positions requiring Presidential appointment or Senate confirmation, the appointment of officials to non-career positions in the Senior Executive Service or to Schedule C positions in the Excepted Service, or the appointment of any other officials who serve at the pleasure of the appointing authority. Moreover, it does not limit the hiring of personnel where such a limit would conflict with applicable law. This memorandum does not revoke any appointment to Federal service made prior to January 22, 2017.
This memorandum does not abrogate any collective bargaining agreement in effect on the date of this memorandum.
DONALD J. TRUMP
Source: Presidential Memorandum Regarding the Hiring Freeze | whitehouse.gov
Trump n kelly n their alternative facts…nuff said about those two idiots
Dear Ms. Jo If you are so concerned about the budget, why does our government pay for Israel’s entire defense costs? 3.8 billion pre year. Israel, the same friend that attacked the USS Liberty on 08 June 1967 and killed 32 sailors! Look it up. Of course any expenditure that goes to buy votes and campaign cash doesn’t add to the national debt, nor funds for corporate wealthfare Only if the funds are spent on the citizens! I know we can’t expect Israel, or our businessmen to take a hit. That is reserved for the American people.
why wouldnt Trump want to help the USPS? its the only Federal or quasi Federal Agency that MAKES MONEY! the gov does not have one Federal Agency that makes money and was actually told for many decades that it should just break even. the USPS can stay alive and well and we have roots like a mighty oak in the culture of the US for hundreds of years. you put up a box and you get mail and thats a beautiful thing. for our retirees and the workforce he needs to tell the Federal Gov off our backs and take these yearly billion dollar tax payments off of us. let us prosper and we can rebuild the whole fleet and repair our customer service outlets AND management must be tasked to put the network back the way it was before donahue came along and broke it so a letter can’t even get across town in a day.
Trump will tell mgt to fix it and he will leave us be cuz thats what any good president who cares should do
NALC and other postal unions have been doing their best to screw postal retiree’s over by throwing their 99.9% support behind postal reform via HR 5714. If this bill ever passes postal retiree’s will be mandated to purchase Medicare parts B and D in order to keep our FEHB. Our spouses will also have to do the same. The only holdout NALC had (the remaining .1%) is they wanted a waiver included in the bill that would provide an exemption for retiree’s with documented extenuating circumstances. Here is the kicker for me, I have been retired since 2005 and have NALC insurance and not once did I receive any information from NALC about what they were doing. If Rolando can do this then he is capable of selling out Letter Carriers period! With Trump running the government I have no confidence in Rolando or what he has to say. The Postal Service is still part of the government and I am sure Trump will do what he wants to do with the USPS. Now there are two presidents I have no confidence in.
@wtodd; It states, “Or the appointment of any other officials who serve at the pleasure of the appointing authority.” EXEMPT. Although concerning as this sounds, Trump is shaking the apple tree to bring in the budget. I honestly feel this is necessary. Really. Its new to everyone and we can all hover in fear of the unknown and unfamiliar, but what other methods have been tested to reduce the budget and proven successful? Sooner or later extreme measures would have to be implemented to bring Government spending under control. Its like a Country with a credit card that keeps charging. It will no doubt catch up to each and every one of us. Even though we had no voice in the matters. Im sure we will all feel repercussions from this order, how hard, is impossible to predict, but I would rather take a hit now then wait possibly years later and take a most severe punch to my own livelihood. Rather in my working years where I can rebound, instead of the most significance in my retirement years, when my options are minimal if any. But every Government office (excluding those mentioned) will see some significant changes. No more waste. why should there have ever been?
For now you don’t Check back in a few months.
Don’t worry unions. Postal employees aren’t included since we have collective bargaining.
Next up: lockout all current federal employees, bust their unions and replace them with non-union workers. Any federal employee who voted for Trump voted for their own termination and voted against their own best interests. Federal workers, get ready to fight for your lives…
yes they did, but explaining this is like talking to a brick wall, their downfall will have to come first and then I am still left wondering if they now understand.
Hiring freezes aren’t new. It’s just the GOP’s way of stealing the money that would be used for hiring and training and benefits they would much rather have in their filthy pockets. I am retired and I suppose I shouldn’t care anymore, but after 32 + years, part of me still cares about my fellow postal employees, and I still pay my NALC dues. So here’s my two complaints outside of Trumpty Dumpty ordering the freeze in the first place.
1) The NALC has yet to respond at all on its website. This news has been out a few days and there was plenty of time to offer a response, even an insincere one. I know of no responses at least posted on this site from the others either so maybe there’s a collective response in the works. Still, I find it disturbing that they haven’t gotten out and acted much sooner. This is the worst time for a wishy washy NALC leadership. We all knew Trump would mean very serious trouble for all postal and federal employees for months and frankly the tepid response from the NALC is discouraging. Do you have to be reminded that you have a duty and obligation to your membership?
2) Trump supporters. Okay, it’s over, get over it, blah blah blah. Like hell. That suggestion tells me Trump fans do not recognize the importance or the privilege of the 1st Amendment, particularly when it comes to thinking its contents applies only to them. You have voted in a man who will make your working life especially as letter carriers a living hell for as long as the freeze is in effect. You will in all likelihood lose most of your scheduled days off, work overtime every day as routes are split or you don’t get auxiliary assistance on an overburdened route. You are clouded by your gullibility and refusal to admit mistakes. Now it’s coming around to bite your ass but for many of you it’s fine as long as you can enjoy your racism and intolerance that is almost as bad as the Jim Crow years because your GOP leadership is so anti-minority, anti worker and decent living wages you’ll be one of those victimized, and you could have avoided it.
Do you really believe in “alternative truth”? I know some will, and the thought makes me retch. Now, other people who granted didn’t like Hillary either, myself included, will suffer right along with you because your family’s welfare doesn’t mean shit to you, only your guns and hate. Maybe it will take a true national calamity to get you to admit Trump is a pathological liar, as is his staff and the GOP. Clinton lied a lot too, but she would have stopped short of gutting federal jobs, I’m pretty sure.
Sometimes it’s better to admit you were wrong than being stubborn and stupid, therefore allowing politicians to ruin us. But I know a few personally who are staunch GOP voters and fans of FOX News whom I seriously doubt will ever admit to doing anything wrong, no matter how stupid or mean it makes them look. I will not stop complaining and reacting to Trump – that is my right, as it is everybody else’s, so those of you who want us liberals to shut up, just try and make us.
jobs jobs jobs……
Next thing that needs to be done it term limits for the Congress.
Freeze those high pay salaries of postal management… how many supervisors does it take to run a station?
Freeze? !….the post office Needs a reduction! ….you have about 50,000 managers walking around with absolutely nothing to do!
Does the freeze include his political lackeys or business friends? We all know there will be exceptions. Remember, he is for the “people”.