The White House directed all federal departments and agencies on Wednesday to prepare for widespread workforce cuts, continuing President Donald Trump‘s overarching goal of shrinking the federal bureaucracy.
The Office of Management and Budget and Office of Personnel Management sent a memo Wednesday morning, obtained by the Washington Examiner, saying to “take preparations to initiate large-scale reductions in force (RIFs)” and submit two separate “Agency Reorganization Plans” to the White House by March 13 and April 14, respectively. The memo also sets an implementation date of Sept. 30, 2025, for the “Phase 2” plan.
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Trump amplified his desire to slash the federal civil service later Wednesday during a Cabinet meeting.
“We’re cutting down the size of government. We have to. We’re bloated. We’re sloppy,” Trump said. “We have a lot of people that don’t exist.”
The memo justified the effort to cut federal jobs by portraying the 2.4 million-strong federal workforce as a drain on taxpayers.
“The federal government is costly, inefficient, and deeply in debt. 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 hard-working American citizens,” the memo reads.
The memo outlines a two-part effort, with the first phase focused on “agency cuts and reductions,” while “Phase 2” would entail a vision to make agency operations more productive and efficient.
The White House also specifically outlined seven “tools” department and agency heads should use in developing their plans, including:
— Continuing to comply with the hiring freeze outlined in the January 20, 2025 Presidential Memorandum Hiring Freeze
— Establishing internal processes that ensure agency leadership has visibility and/or direct sign-off on all potential job offers and candidates prior to extending offers
— Eliminating non-statutorily mandated functions
— Removing underperforming employees or employees engaged in misconduct, and continuing to evaluate probationary employees
— Reducing headcount through attrition and allowing term or temporary positions to expire without renewal
— Separating reemployed annuitants in areas likely subject to RIFs
— Renegotiating provisions of collective bargaining agreements (CBAs) that would inhibit enhanced government efficiency and employee accountability
The White House also specified five broad categories of federal workers who are exempt from being included in the workforce reduction plans, including military and federal uniformed personnel, federal law enforcement, and other national security or public safety affiliated positions.
Trump is excluding officials in the Executive Office of the President, all 4,000 presidential appointees, and U.S. Postal Service workers. The memo comes as the White House has already culled the workforce, with at least 75,000 people accepting the deferred resignation offer and thousands of layoffs.
Wednesday’s memo was delivered the same day Trump hosted the first Cabinet meeting of his second term, during which he reiterated efforts to have department heads trim their own workforces.
“We’re going to ask them to do their own DOGE,” Trump stated before singling out Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin’s projected cuts of 65% of EPA’s staff.
Elon Musk, the de-facto head of the Department of Government Efficiency, took part in the meeting, speaking second only to Trump despite not being a Cabinet member.
Musk’s elevated status has led to myriad jabs from the president’s critics, including “President Musk” or the “shadow president.” Trump did his first joint interview with him rather than Vice President JD Vance, and Musk has put himself at odds with members of Trump’s Cabinet.
He has also clashed with multiple department and agency heads, such as FBI Director Kash Patel, regarding DOGE’s escalating requirements of federal workers, including an email requiring employees to submit five bullet points summarizing the work they accomplished in the prior week. Musk and DOGE maintained that failure to comply would result in termination of employment.
During Wednesday’s Cabinet meeting, the president himself backed up Musk, saying that federal employees who haven’t responded to DOGE’s five points email are “on the bubble.”
“Maybe they’re going to be gone. Maybe they’re not around. Maybe they have other jobs. Maybe they moved, and they’re not where they’re supposed to be. A lot of things could have happened,” Trump said.
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You can read the memo in full below.
RIF memo by Christian Datoc on Scribd