Thursday, April 13, 2017

The hiring freeze is over, so do we lose all the ground we gained?

by Jazz Shaw

One of President Trump’s first big moves upon taking office (wildly applauded around these parts) was a freeze on federal hiring with an eye toward dramatic cuts in the size of the federal government. This was supposed to usher in an era of trimming down the federal behemoth, reducing costs and lessening the impact of Washington on the day to day lives of the average citizen. The freeze was always designed to be temporary, allowing time for departments to come up with plans as to how they would tighten their belts going forward. This week the freeze was lifted early and it sounds as if the promised, long-term reduction plans are still mostly theoretical. (Government Executive)
The Trump administration announced its hiring freeze will end Wednesday, while delivering to agencies promised guidance on how they should reduce the size of their workforces in both the near and long term. Trump’s hiring freeze, which went into effect Jan. 23, lasted 79 days, with the Office of Management and Budget issuing guidance to end it 11 days before the president’s initial deadline. While agencies are allowed to begin hiring again without restriction or approval from the Office of Personnel Management, OMB Director Mick Mulvaney said Tuesday they cannot begin onboarding employees “willy-nilly.”

“willy-nilly”? Really? You just watch them. 

 I just posted two days ago about all the vacancies in leadership positions in the Trump administration. That means the under secretarys, assistant secretarys, agency heads and so on aren't in place to oversee the hirings.

Can't help but agree with Shaw's conclusion:

The honeymoon period isn’t going to last long for the Trump administration, assuming there even was one. We gave you guys the ax. It’s time to start chopping.

No comments: