
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Contact: Matt Dorsey
(202) 550-6987
January 21, 2025
Washington, D.C. – Today, the National Federation of Federal Employees (NFFE-IAM) is responding to several executive actions signed by President Trump on his first day returning to the White House that target federal workers and agencies.
“As anticipated, the new administration has issued a barrage of executive orders (EOs) and memoranda that will impair critical services for the American public,” said NFFE National President Randy Erwin. “These EOs are designed to intimidate and attack nonpartisan civil servants under the guise of increasing efficiency; however, these orders will do the exact opposite. These actions create new problems, disrupt essential functions, and will ultimately reduce the availability of services to the American people.”
Among the executive orders are harmful policies such as a hiring freeze on new employees, the revival of Schedule F (now known as Schedule P/C, or Policy/Career), the removal of diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, the establishment of the questionable Department of Government Efficiency, and general attacks on federal Merit Principles and civil service laws and regulations.
One memorandum requires agencies terminate remote work arrangements of their employees as soon as practicable with the expectation employees will simply quit rather than return in-office. Many of these remote employees may be forced to uproot from their communities to keep their jobs. Housing costs are at an all-time high. There is no promise of payment for relocation expenses. This initiative will force a cruel choice upon federal employees who are simply trying to earn a living in public service.
The Office of Personnel Management under new leadership issued memos demonstrating their full embrace of understaffing the government as this administration’s policy. OPM’s memos foreshadow this administration will whittle down the workforce through reorganizations, office closures, and terminating employees on probation. These moves to further understaff the federal workforce will increase already unmanageable workloads. Federal employees earn far less than their private sector counterparts and do far more.
The slashing of federal jobs has never been proven to save costs. Federal salaries and benefits account for less than 16% of discretionary spending, and non-defense discretionary funding is at its lowest level as a percentage of GDP ever. The short turnaround for agencies to act means decisions will not be fact-driven or evidence based. Our union is wary of initiatives like DOGE and others because they could so easily drive illegal and discriminatory actions against our members.
“NFFE and the proud federal employees we represent will not give up on our work in public service. Each one of our members take pride in delivering valuable services to their fellow Americans and they do not want to see those critical functions eliminated. We are prepared to counter every policy put forward by the new administration to ensure that our members have the freedom to serve their country as civilian federal workers without being unfairly pushed out, intimidated, or scapegoated. America’s workforce deserves better than this.”