Trump picks fights on federal telework, civil service

By Kevin Bogardus | 01/21/2025 01:59 PM EST

“Most of those bureaucrats are being fired — they’re gone,” President Donald Trump said at a rally Monday. “It should be all of them, but some sneak through.”

Donald Trump's inauguration parade.

President Donald Trump signs executive orders during an inauguration parade at Capital One Arena in Washington on Monday. Jamie Kelter Davis for POLITICO

President Donald Trump has reignited his battle with federal workers as he seeks to strip their civil service protections and get them back into the office.

Trump signed a series of executive orders Monday, his first day back as president, that could upend the work lives of federal employees. It’s part of his campaign pledge to dismantle the administrative state, which his allies credit with hindering his first-term agenda.

The president promised to “gain immediate control of that vast federal out-of-control bureaucracy” during a Monday rally at Washington’s Capital One Arena.

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“I will implement an immediate regulation freeze, which will stop Biden bureaucrats from continuing to regulate,” Trump said at the rally. “Most of those bureaucrats are being fired — they’re gone. It should be all of them, but some sneak through.”

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