‘STRATEGIC’

Trump Lifting Federal Hiring Freeze

“This does not mean agencies will be free to hire willy-nilly.”

The Trump administration plans to lift a federal hiring freeze on Wednesday morning, according to White House Budget Director Mick Mulvaney. He briefed reporters on Tuesday about the change, cautioning that “this does not mean agencies will be free to hire willy-nilly.” Just a few days after taking office, the president imposed an executive order demanding the freeze. That plan, which exempted military, national security, and public safety personnel, will be replaced by a “smarter plan, a more strategic plan, a more surgical plan,” Mulvaney said. Some agencies will still end up reducing the number of employees in their departments, Mulvaney said, even more than they would have done during the hiring freeze. The new approach will be based on President Trump’s original budget proposal, which called for deep cuts to several agencies, including the EPA, but built up others areas, including Customs and Border Protection.