White House Orders Agencies to Accelerate Large-Scale Firings of Federal Workers

The Trump administration is fast-tracking government downsizing, requiring agencies to finalize large-scale job cuts and restructuring plans by mid-March.

The Trump administration is accelerating its sweeping federal workforce cuts, directing agency heads in a Feb. 26 memo to finalize plans for “large-scale” firings by mid-March.

Federal agencies have been ordered to prepare and submit “Phase 1 Agency RIF [reductions in force] and Reorganization Plans” by March 13, according to a memo jointly authored by Russell Vought, acting director of the Office of Management and Budget, and Charles Ezell, acting director of the Office of Personnel Management.

The directive implements and expands President Donald Trump’s Feb. 11 executive order aimed at launching a “critical transformation of the Federal bureaucracy.” The order seeks to downsize and restructure the government workforce—which Trump has long described as bloated and insular—to maximize 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, who leads the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). The DOGE initiative was created by Trump and tasked with rooting out waste, fraud, and abuse in federal operations.

Trump’s workforce optimization initiative includes both large-scale reduction in force plans and agency-wide reorganization efforts, which could result in not just job cuts but also the elimination of entire positions, agency subcomponents, or even entire agencies. The administration has framed these moves as necessary to streamline government functions and reduce unnecessary spending.

In their Feb. 26 memo, Ezell and Vought reinforced this mission, characterizing federal operations as wasteful, inefficient, and in need of urgent reform.

“The federal government is costly, inefficient, and deeply in debt,” they wrote. “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.”

As part of this effort, agency leaders “shall promptly undertake preparations to initiate large-scale reductions in force,” the memo said.

Some agencies have already begun the process. The General Services Administration, which oversees federal buildings and real estate, notified employees on Monday that a reduction in force was underway and assured workers that it would do everything in its power to make their departure “fair and dignified.”

The memo also outlines a Phase 2 plan, which will require agencies to submit more comprehensive restructuring plans by April 14. This second phase will focus on long-term government downsizing, consolidation of offices, and relocation of agency functions to lower-cost areas.

“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,” the memo reads.

After being reviewed and approved, Phase 2 plans should be ready for implementation by the end of September.

The memo coincided with Trump’s first Cabinet meeting of his second term. During the meeting, the president mentioned efforts to reduce the federal workforce and reform agencies.

He said the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will see a staff reduction of around 65 percent. In some cases, the job cuts will be a “little more surgical,” Trump said, noting that the U.S. State Department would be one of these due to the classified nature of some operations. He also singled out the Department of Education, saying it would be subjected to major cuts or, possibly, elimination entirely.

“We want to move education back to the states where it belongs,” Trump said, adding that it’s “unacceptable” that the United States spends more than nearly every other developed country on education but ranks near the bottom.

Wednesday’s memo also directs agency heads to collaborate with the Musk-led DOGE on developing their workforce reduction plans.

Musk and DOGE, which has been hit with multiple lawsuits seeking to stymie its operations, recently drew criticism following an email sent to government workers from the Office of Personnel Management over the weekend asking them to provide a bullet-point list of their accomplishments, with Musk commenting on social media that those who don’t respond would face termination.

During Wednesday’s cabinet meeting, Musk said that about 1 million workers had responded to the email. He added that another similar email would be forthcoming.

When asked by reporters whether DOGE has a target for how many of the 2.3 million federal government employees should be cut, Musk did not provide a specific figure.

“We wish to keep everyone who is doing a job that is essential and doing their job well,” Musk said. “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’s no official tally for the total firings and layoffs to date, but a review of various reports suggests it’s at least 20,000, with an additional 75,000 accepting deferred resignations, bringing the total affected to nearly 100,000.

Trump said at the cabinet meeting that some of the 1 million or so workers who have not responded to the OPM email may have other jobs or may not even exist.

DOGE’s tally of savings from moves such as canceled contracts, asset sales, and workforce reductions currently stands at $65 billion.