Federal Government Policy and Business

White House tells agencies to come up with a plan to shrink their workforces

The Washington Posts: The White House on Wednesday will instruct all federal agencies to submit a plan by June 30 to shrink their civilian workforces, offering the first details on how the Trump administration aims to reduce the size and scope of the government.

A governmentwide hiring freeze the president imposed on Jan. 23 will be lifted immediately. But Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney told reporters Tuesday that agency leaders must start “taking immediate actions” to save money and reduce their staffs. Mulvaney also said they must come up with a long-term blueprint to cut the number of federal workers starting in October 2018.

“This does not mean that agencies will be free to hire willy nilly,” Mulvaney said of the return to hiring. He called the restructuring — laid out in a 14-page memo — a “smarter plan, a more strategic plan, a more surgical plan” to rein in a bureaucracy that President Trump has called too big and bloated.

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