WASHINGTON - The Trump administration Wednesday ordered heads of federal departments and agencies to prepare to initiate "large-scale reductions in force" by March 13 as President Donald Trump shifts to a more aggressive phase of cutting the federal workforce.
A memo sent by the Personnel Management and Management and Budget offices has also instructed federal departments to eliminate positions and produce reorganization plans for their agencies by the same deadline.
More: DOGE said it cut $881 million at the Education Department. The real savings are much less.
"The federal government is costly, inefficient, and deeply in debt," the memo from OMB Director Russ Vought and OPM Acting Director Charles Ezell says. "At the same time, it is not producing results for the American public. Instead, tax dollars are being siphoned off to fund unproductive and unnecessary programs that benefit radical interest groups while hurting hardworking American citizens."
Mass firings of federal workers thus far have focused primarily on eliminating recently hired or promoted probationary workers in making drastic cuts to the federal workforce, an effort guided by billionaire tech entrepreneur Elon Musk, who heads the Department of Government Efficiency. This first round of firings came after buyouts were offered to all federal employees, which more than 75,000 workers accepted.
The newly ordered reductions, however, are expected to target federal employees with full civil service protection, not just probationary workers, according to the memo.
More: Trump's mass firing of probationary employees illegal, not performance-based, lawyers say
"We wish to keep everyone who is doing a job that is essential and doing that job well," Musk said Wednesday while attending Trump's first Cabinet meeting, an unusual move for an aide in an unusual position of power. "But if the job is not essential, well, they obviously should not be on the public payroll."
During his Cabinet meeting, Trump referenced conversations with Lee Zeldin, administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, who Trump said is exploring cutting 65% of the EPA workforce.
"We're going to speed up the process, too, at the same time," Trump said. "A lot of people that weren't doing their job (or) they were just obstructionists."
The new phase of federal layoffs follows through on an executive order Trump signed on Feb. 11. DOGE layoffs across federal departments already appear to number tens of thousands, but the White House has declined to provide USA TODAY a government-wide total despite numerous requests over several weeks.
Reach Joey Garrison on X @joeygarrison.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump admin begins new phase of mass layoffs to federal workforce