RIF watch: See which agencies are laying off federal workers – Government Executive
The Defense Department plans to issue RIFs in the coming weeks for 5% to 8% of its civilian workforce.
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GovExec Staff
Updated Feb. 27 at 4:10 p.m.The Trump administration has given agencies a March 13 deadline to finalize their plans to slash their workforces through layoffs. Not all agencies are waiting that long, however, and some have either already started sending out reduction-in-force notices or have explained their plans to do so. The upcoming layoffs are separate from the mass firings of probationary employees, which led to the removal of at least 25,000 workers. See our tracker of those firings here.A President Trump executive order and subsequent guidance from the Office of Management and Budget and the Office of Personnel Management has to plan for the “maximum elimination” of federal agency functions not required by law. As a starting point for the cuts, OMB and OPM said, agencies should focus on employees whose jobs are not required in statute and who face furloughs in government shutdowns—typically around one-third of the federal workforce, or 700,000 employees.Agencies are expected to eliminate some offices wholesale and slash their regional offices across the country. Here are the departments and agencies where Government Executive has confirmed RIFs have taken place or about to occur. We will update as we learn more. More in-depth reporting is linked where available:Defense Department: Defense plans to issue RIFs in the coming weeks for 5% to 8% of its civilian workforce, or as many as 61,000 employees. It will fire 5,400 probationary employees as part of those cuts. Environmental Protection Agency: RIFs had not yet begun at EPA as of Thursday, but President Trump said during a cabinet meeting that he expected 65% of the workforce, or nearly 11,000 employees, to be let go. An EPA spokesperson declined to verify that number, saying only that Trump and agency Administrator Lee Zeldin “in lock step” to find efficiencies in government and those efforts would include “organizational improvements to the personnel structure.”General Service Administration: GSA has sent RIF notices to some employees in its Office of Human Resources Management and Office of Customer Experience and severe cuts are expected in the Public Building Service and elsewhere. Housing and Urban Development Department: HUD has issued RIF notices to all employees in the Office of Field Policy and Management at the General Schedule-13 level and below, according to a memo obtained by Government Executive. The employees will be terminated May 18. HUD is expected to issue more widespread RIFs in the coming weeks, according to an employee briefed on the matter. Office of Personnel Management: OPM, which is spearheading the workforce reduction effort across government, has sent RIF notices to at least its Office of Procurement Operations and communications staff. Dozens of employees were impacted. Social Security Administration: SSA has shuttered two offices—its Office of Transformation and Office of Civil Rights—though for now employees there are on administrative leave and have not yet received RIF notices. SSA acting Administrator Leland Dudek is planning to lay off 7,000 employees in total, according to three employees familiar with the plans. U.S. Agency for International Development: The Trump administration is in the process of shuttering virtually the entire agency and it has already sent RIF notices to nearly all of its 2,000 U.S.-based employees. Overseas staff are largely on administrative leave currently and are expected to receive RIF notices in the coming weeks. See something we are missing? Share your experience with us: Eric Katz: ekatz@govexec.com; Signal: erickatz.28 Sean Michael Newhouse: snewhouse@govexec.com; Signal: seanthenewsboy.45 Erich Wagner: ewagner@govexec.com; Signal: ewagner.47Related articlesAgencies to deliver large-scale RIF plans in two weeksFederal agencies are still firing probationary employees—most recently NOAA
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Agencies to deliver large-scale RIF plans in two weeks
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