The Trump administration is accelerating its massive federal workforce cuts, directing agency heads in a Feb. 26 memo to finalize plans for “large-scale” layoffs by mid-March.
According to a memo co-authored by Russell Vought, acting director of the Office of Management and Budget, and Charles Ezell, acting director of the Office of Personnel Management, federal agencies must prepare and submit “Phase 1 Agency RIF [reductions in force] and Reorganization Plans” by March 13.
The directive implements and expands on President Donald Trump’s executive order issued on February 11, which aimed to launch a “critical transformation of the Federal bureaucracy.”
The order aims to reduce and restructure the government workforce, which Trump has previously described as bloated and insular, in order to increase efficiency and productivity.
“By eliminating waste, bloat, and insularity, my Administration will empower American families, workers, taxpayers, and our system of government itself,” Trump wrote in the order, which he signed in the Oval Office alongside Elon Musk, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) director.
DOGE was established by Trump and is charged with rooting out waste, fraud, and abuse in federal operations.
Trump’s workforce optimization initiative includes both large-scale force reduction plans and agency-wide reorganization efforts, which may result in not only job cuts, but also the elimination of entire positions, agency subcomponents, or even entire agencies.
The administration has framed these actions as necessary to streamline government functions and cut wasteful spending.
In their memo dated February 26, Ezell and Vought reaffirmed this mission, describing federal operations as wasteful, inefficient, and in need of immediate reform.
“The federal government is costly, inefficient, and deeply in debt,” they pointed out. “At the same time, it is not delivering results for the American people.” Instead, tax dollars are being diverted to fund wasteful and ineffective programs that benefit radical interest groups while harming hardworking Americans.”
As part of this effort, agency leaders “shall promptly undertake preparations to initiate large-scale reductions in force,” according to the memo.
Some agencies have already started the process. On February 24, the General Services Administration, which oversees federal buildings and real estate, notified employees that a force reduction was underway.
It assured employees that it would do everything in its power to ensure their departure was “fair and dignified.”
The memo also outlines a second phase, in which agencies must submit more comprehensive restructuring plans by April 14. This second phase will concentrate on long-term government downsizing, office consolidation, and the relocation of agency functions to less expensive locations.
“Pursuant to the President’s direction, agencies should focus on the maximum elimination of functions that are not statutorily mandated while driving the highest-quality, most efficient delivery of their statutorily-required functions,” according to the memo.
The second phase’s plans, once reviewed and approved, should be ready for implementation by the end of September.
The memo arrived during Trump’s first Cabinet meeting of his second term. During the meeting, the president spoke about efforts to reduce the federal workforce and reform agencies.
He stated that the Environmental Protection Agency’s staff will be reduced by approximately 65 percent. Some job cuts will be “little more surgical,” Trump said, citing the State Department as an example due to the classified nature of some operations.
He also singled out the Department of Education, stating that it would face significant cuts or, potentially, elimination.
“We want to move education back to the states where it belongs,” Trump said, adding that it is “unacceptable” that the US spends more on education than nearly every other developed country while ranking near the bottom.
The memo dated February 26 also directs agency heads to work with the Musk-led DOGE to develop workforce reduction plans.
Musk and DOGE, which has been hit with multiple lawsuits attempting to stymie its operations, recently came under fire after the Office of Personnel Management sent an email to government employees over the weekend asking them to provide a bullet-point list of their accomplishments, with Musk commenting on social media that those who do not respond will face termination.
During the February 26 Cabinet meeting, Musk stated that approximately 1 million employees had responded to the email. He also stated that another similar email would be forthcoming.
When asked by reporters if DOGE has a target for how many of the 2.3 million federal government employees should be cut, Musk declined to provide a specific figure.
“We wish to keep everyone who is doing a job that is essential and doing their job well,” Musk informed the media. “But if the job is not essential, or they’re not doing the job well, they obviously should not be on the public payroll.”
There is no official tally for the total number of firings and layoffs to date, but a review of various reports indicates that it is at least 20,000 people, with an additional 75,000 accepting deferred resignations, bringing the total affected to nearly 100,000.
Trump stated at the Cabinet meeting that some of the approximately 1 million employees who have not responded to the Office of Personnel Management email may have other jobs or may not even exist.
DOGE’s total savings from moves such as canceled contracts, asset sales, and workforce reductions now stands at $65 billion.
