The Trump administration has moved into its next push and most aggressive yet to drastically overhaul the federal bureaucracy, demanding that agencies produce plans for large work force cuts that involve closing offices and relocating employees outside the Washington region.
Agencies have been instructed to turn in a detailed list of divisions that should be consolidated or cut entirely by March 13, according to a recent memo from the Office of Personnel Management and Office of Management and Budget, as part of a “reduction in force” process ordered by President Trump and orchestrated in large part by Elon Musk, the billionaire who has become a top adviser.
By April 14, agencies must deliver new organizational charts and all proposals for relocating offices in the Washington region to areas of the country where the cost of living is lower, according to the memo. Agencies were instructed to be prepared to roll out this part of the plan by the end of September.
For government agencies to fulfill these requirements would be an ambitious undertaking under any circumstances. But to accomplish this in accordance with the law in such a short time frame is most likely impossible, experts say.
“No agency can do a genuine strategic plan in the next two weeks,” said Donald F. Kettl, professor emeritus and the former dean of the University of Maryland’s School of Public Policy. “They need to figure out what they want to do and how best to do it, before they take a chain saw to government and cut indiscriminately.”
The government is expected to follow specific rules when conducting these reductions in force. For one, employees need 60 days’ notice, said Kevin Owen, an employment lawyer with Gilbert Employment Law. (The recent White House guidance said that agencies can request an exception to provide just 30 days’ notice.)
Additionally, each division making cuts this way is supposed to create an “RIF” registry where employees are ranked by their service, performance ratings and whether they are veterans, Mr. Owen said. And the government is supposed to try to find other jobs within the government for the highest-ranked employees.
“The whole purpose of the RIF function is to retain the best qualified when you are reducing the number of jobs,” Mr. Owen said.
Mr. Trump previewed out the aggressive timeline for downsizing the federal work force in an executive order this month, and thousands of people have already been fired as a result. Most were in probationary positions or had occupied a job set aside for diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives that the administration canceled.
No administration has tried to reduce the size of the federal work force at such a large scale and in such a short time frame. Since Mr. Trump’s first day in office, federal workers have experienced a whirlwind of confusion, shock and trepidation, and the latest memo has only added to the feeling of dread before opening an email.
A nurse who works at a Veterans Affairs hospital said they live in a state of uncertainty. They and their colleagues do not know if they should be looking for other jobs. And their supervisors do not have any answers. The veterans who come into the center as patients are asking whether the hospital will shut down, said the nurse, who asked to speak on condition of anonymity out of fear of reprisal.
A mother who works at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and who is the sole breadwinner in her family, does not know how much longer she will have a job and by extension, health insurance. The woman, who asked to remain anonymous because she feared repercussions from the government, said she interprets this administration’s goal to be inflicting trauma.
“If it wasn’t so awful, it would be hilarious,” said Alma Aliaj, a former employee with the U.S. Agency for International Development who was recently fired, twice.
On Sunday, Ms. Aliaj was notified that she is considered an essential employee and expected to stay working. On Monday morning, she received an email that notified her that her position would be cut as part of a reduction in force and that she would be out of a job on April 24. The document cited an inaccurate salary. A few hours later, she was told she was being fired because she was a probationary employee.
“The amount of chaos and lack of thought cannot be overstated,” she said.
Ahead of the new guidance for reductions in force sent on Wednesday, some agencies had already begun circulating their plans to employees. Other departments appeared to be taking steps to align with the Trump administration’s requirements, such as by assessing office closures and lease terminations.
The new F.B.I. director, Kash Patel, has made plans to send 1,000 agents in the Washington region to other parts of the country. He also intends to send another 500 support staff members, most of whom are currently based in Washington, to an F.B.I. campus in Huntsville, Ala.
Labor unions representing federal workers have strongly objected to some of the moves, arguing that the Trump administration is not following the rules that govern reductions in force.
On Monday, officials at the Department of Housing and Urban Development officials told employees that those cuts were coming — 144 in the first round, all from the Office of Field Policy and Management, which is the main point of contact for local communities.
“HUD has followed almost none of the contractual or statutory requirements of a RIF,” said Ashaki Robinson, a regional president for the Washington local of the American Federation of Government Employees, a union. “They literally only gave us a list of names, what office they work in and with the executive order as the reason for the RIF.”
To Mr. Trump, the shrinking of the federal government is going swimmingly.
“We have cut billions and billions and billions of dollars,” Mr. Trump said Wednesday during his first cabinet meeting. “We’re looking to get it maybe to a trillion dollars.”
Mr. Trump did not provide evidence for the “billions of dollars” he cited. The work conducted by Mr. Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency, also tasked with slashing various programs and government contracts in what his team has billed as a cost-saving operation, has been largely opaque. Its only public ledger, which asserts millions in savings so far, is riddled with mistakes. Additionally, there have been numerous instances in which the apparent speed at which the Trump administration has moved to terminate contracts and grants has led to key programs, including critical funding to help contain Ebola outbreaks, getting the ax.
Mr. Musk admitted this was an error.
