Deadline strikes for next wave of federal layoffs. What to expect from Trump's plan.
Just a month after President Donald Trump's administration fired over 100,000 early-tenure federal government employees, his administration is undergoing a larger slashing of the workforce across the country, the details of which are becoming clearer by the hour.
The job cuts to the U.S. government - one of the largest employers in the world - come as economists are increasingly worried about the risk of a recession due to Trump's trade war with Canada and Mexico. The war has battered stock prices and left Americans worried about their retirement savings.
The Department of Education is laying off one-half of its staff. The nation's leading weather forecasting agency is laying off 20% of its workforce. NASA is shuttering three key offices, and plans have leaked for laying off 76,000 employees in the Department of Veterans Affairs. Trump has floated the idea of cutting more than half of the staff at the Environmental Protection Agency.
On paper, the big deadline is Thursday for agencies to submit plans for large-scale layoffs, called a reduction in force. But agencies have been getting those plans in early, and telling employees ahead of that deadline that their jobs are about to expire.
Trump called for a layoff plan on Feb. 11
With his cutter-in-chief Elon Musk by his side, Trump signed an executive order Feb. 11 calling for federal agencies to “promptly undertake preparations to initiate large-scale reductions in force,” referencing the legal term for a mass layoff, and called for the separation of temporary employees who would likely be subject to the layoffs.
The offices' priorities for layoffs were anything the Trump administration suspends or closes, functions that are considered nonessential during government shutdowns, and diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. The language specifically exempted public safety, immigration enforcement and law enforcement.
Additionally, the order gives agency heads 30 days to submit reports to the budget office that “discuss whether the agency or any of its subcomponents should be eliminated or consolidated," and tells agencies they can hire only one new worker for every four who leave.
A broader exception in the order exempts military personnel and allowed agency heads to exempt “any position they deem necessary to meet national security, homeland security, or public safety responsibilities.”
Human resources asked for plans by March 13
About two weeks later, the government’s human resources arm, called the Office of Personnel Management, issued formal guidance for what it called “Agency RIF and Reorganization Plans,” and reiterated that they would be due March 13, which is 30 days after Trump’s executive order.
The memo says plans should include “a significant reduction” in full-time positions, less use of real estate, and a smaller budget. It calls for eliminations of functions the law doesn't require and efficient delivery of the ones that are.
The memo said the layoffs may be effective before the plans is actually due, signaling that layoff notices could be coming anytime. Agencies can use layoffs, attrition, removal of underperforming employees, and renegotiation of collective bargaining agreements, among other things.
Will Social Security or Medicare be affected by layoffs?
The human resources memo tells agencies that provide direct services — including Social Security, Medicare, and veterans’ health care — not to implement their reductions in force until the Office of Management and Budget and Office of Personnel Management can review the plans to “certify that the plans will have a positive effect on the delivery of such services.”
Post Office employees, who are independent from the executive branch, are exempt. So are employees in the Executive Office of the President. This is in addition to the broader exemption of military, border security, national security, immigration enforcement, and public safety.
Layoffs will require 30 to 60 days’ notice
Federal law generally requires agencies to give employees 60 days’ notice before they are laid off, but the law also allows the Office of Personnel Management to shrink this notice period to 30 days. In its memo to agencies, the office outlines a timeline that includes this 60-day notice period that can be shortened to 30 days if the office gives a waiver.
Layoff procedures already underway
The Department of Veterans Affairs was one of the first to create its layoff plan. A March 4 memo obtained by Paste BN outlined a plan to cut 76,000 workers. That amounts to about 16% of the 483,000 workers government data shows the department had in September.
The memo said the Department of Veterans Affairs would publish a reorganization plan in June 2025 and have a department-wide reduction in force by the end of the fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30. The memo calls for the department to "coordinate actions with" Musk's Department of Government Efficiency.
The Department of Education, which Trump has promised to shutter altogether, offered buyouts to people who accepted by March 3, ahead of "very significant" workforce reductions. On Tuesday night, the department announced it would slash its workforce in half, laying off or accepting resignations of about 2,100 of its 4,200 employees.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is laying off more than 1,000 people, or about 20% of its staff. Likewise, NASA told employees Monday it would shutter three offices, including the office of the chief scientist. Cheryl Warner, a spokesperson for NASA, said the agency is giving workers 30 days’ notice.
“This accelerated timeframe allows the agency to address these necessary adjustments quickly, in line with the government's larger efficiency goals,” Warner said in an email. “This decision supports NASA's ability to continue meeting its mission needs while adhering to the mandated restructuring process.”
Contributing: Sarah D. Wire, Cybele Mayes-Osterman, Joey Garrison, Zachary Schermele