President Donald Trump rolled out a sweeping directive mandating all federal agencies prepare for substantial staff and resource reductions during his first Cabinet meeting on Wednesday. Reorganization plans must be submitted by March 13. A newly released memorandum from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) highlights Trump’s emphasis on the “maximum elimination” of non-essential government functions, pushing for significant cuts to an increasingly bloated federal bureaucracy.
The directive is part of Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) Workforce Optimization Initiative, launched under an executive order signed on February 11. The order requires agencies to eliminate waste, bloat, and insularity while increasing efficiency and reducing costs. Key objectives outlined in the memorandum include:
- Cutting full-time government jobs deemed unnecessary.
- Closing or consolidating regional field offices.
- Implementing a hiring freeze, where only one new employee may be hired for every four departures.
- Reducing the federal government’s real estate footprint.
- Slashing budgets and cutting reliance on outside contractors.
Trump praised DOGE during his Cabinet meeting, and said that the initiative has “cut billions and billions and billions of dollars.” He added: “We’re looking to get it maybe to a trillion dollars.” The president also said he had no plans to cut entitlements. “We’re not going to touch it,” Trump said when pressed on whether he could guarantee Medicare, Medicare, and Social Security would not be touched.
He did, however, vow to find savings in those programs in terms of eliminating waste and fraud. “Now we are going to look for fraud. I’m sure you’re okay with that,” he said, pointing to “illegal aliens and other criminals” drawing Social Security payments, and “people that are 200 years old that are being sent checks.”
According to the memo, agencies must “undertake large-scale reductions in force (RIFs)” to shrink the size of government and deliver “better service for the American people.” The decision supports Trump’s 2024 campaign promise to eliminate corruption and reform a federal workforce he has frequently criticized as ineffective. The directive warns agencies against keeping “non-critical positions” and stresses the importance of utilizing automation and technology to eliminate bureaucratic inefficiencies. Agency heads are expected to submit their downsizing plans for review by the OMB and OPM by the strict deadline of March 13.
Budget Director Russell Vought and Charles Ezell, the acting director of the Office of Personnel Management, informed agency leaders in a memo that 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 hardworking American citizens.”
The Trump administration’s reorganization plan calls for mandatory job cuts through attrition, terminations, and the elimination of redundant positions. A strict hiring freeze will be implemented, limiting new hires to no more than one for every four departures, all in an effort to control workforce expansion.
The administration is also pushing for the closure and consolidation of federal offices, particularly those located outside Washington, D.C., in a bid to reduce operational costs. To enhance government efficiency, union contracts will be renegotiated to remove inefficiencies and improve employee accountability.
Another key element of the plan is the potential relocation of government offices from Washington, D.C. to more cost-effective regions, which will help reduce overhead costs and decentralize federal operations. Agencies will also conduct a comprehensive review of “essential” employees to determine which roles should be protected and which can be eliminated as part of the workforce reduction strategy. The second phase of the plan, due by April 14, will focus on further downsizing, agency eliminations, and potential relocations. This phase aims to reshape the federal government for greater long-term efficiency.