President Donald Trump is tightening his grip on the civil service as his hiring freeze ends during the federal government shutdown.
On Wednesday, Trump signed an executive order requiring agencies to form strategic hiring committees. The panels, which will include top political appointees, will ensure hiring is consistent with their agencies’ needs as well as the Trump administration’s priorities. In addition, agencies will have to prepare annual staffing plans to align new career staff appointments with the administration’s goals.
The federal workforce has shrunk dramatically since the start of the second Trump administration, with over 201,000 leaving government jobs so far, according to the Partnership for Public Service. The president’s order Wednesday could continue that decline in staffing as attrition grinds through federal personnel.
His appointees will oversee federal hiring, focusing it on “essential functions” and priorities of the administration, under the order, according to a White House fact sheet.
“The American people elected President Trump to drain the swamp and end ineffective government programs that waste taxpayer dollars and empower government without achieving measurable results,” the fact sheet said.
The new order comes as a federal hiring freeze expires. Trump instituted the freeze three times, initially on his first day back in office, with its latest version ending Oct. 15 after the start of the new fiscal year.
The president has also pushed to lay off federal employees during the shutdown, now in its 15th day. A federal judge, however, issued a temporary restraining order on the administration’s reduction-in-force, or RIF, that is taking place across agencies Wednesday.
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