The Scoop
President Donald Trump is expected to sign an executive order Tuesday directing agencies to work with the Department of Government Efficiency to cut staff and limit hiring, with the goal of “significantly” reducing the size of the federal government.
The executive order, details of which were first shared with Semafor, implements the so-called “workforce optimization initiative” of DOGE, the Elon Musk-led department, and signals plans for steep limits to the federal workforce following the expiration of Trump’s day one hiring freeze.
The order directs agency heads to coordinate with DOGE to shrink the federal workforce and limit hiring to only “essential positions,” according to a White House fact sheet. Each agency will be ordered to “undertake plans for large-scale reductions in force,” the fact sheet says, and work to determine which agency functions are not required by law.
With some exceptions for organizations like law enforcement, national security, public safety, and immigration enforcement, Trump’s latest directive will limit agencies to hiring “no more than one employee for every four employees” that leave, according to the fact sheet.
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Shelby’s view
Trump’s DOGE-focused executive order indicates the president is fully behind Musk’s efforts, which have already included essentially shutting down the United States Agency for International Development, canceling diversity, equity, and inclusion programs, and limiting hiring. DOGE’s efforts have also prompted a number of lawsuits; the administration is currently in the midst of fighting a court order that blocks Musk’s aides from getting into the Treasury Department’s payment systems.
It’s also the latest sign that the administration is leaning into the push to reduce the federal workforce, the size of which has risen steadily over time, according to the Pew Research Center. As of earlier this year, about 3 million people comprise the federal workforce.
The administration offered a deferred resignation to a swath of workers (over 65,000 have so far accepted the offer) at the end of January — the deadline for that has been paused amid court proceedings pushing back over the legality of the program.
The View From democrats
Musk’s early, controversial moves have put Democrats who were initially interested in working with Republicans to cut government waste in a tricky spot. Rep. Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla., who was the first Democrat to join the House’s DOGE caucus earlier this year, told The Washington Post he would stay in the group even as his colleagues protest Musk’s moves.
“There are Americans who want to see government more efficient and spending less money, so that’s why I joined the caucus,” he said.
Notable
- Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, the head of the Senate’s DOGE Caucus, told Semafor that while “there’s a lot of disruption,” it is needed “to fully understand what’s going on.”
- House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries launched a task force on Monday aimed at combatting DOGE and the Trump administration’s massive changes to the federal government, Axios reported.