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 (OPM).
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.
By Tom Ozimek
