Resignations. Retirements. Firings.
And now large-scale layoffs, as agencies faced a Thursday deadline to turn in their plans for executing the next phase of President Trump’s goal of significantly reducing the government payroll.
Agencies were given guidance and a timeline last month to submit outlines for “reductions in force” — a bureaucratic term meaning shrinking of an organization. Many agencies have not yet announced detailed plans. But some plans have trickled out, pointing to a downsizing effort exceeding the number of probationary workers already fired and the number of workers who accepted voluntary resignation offers.
At least some planned cuts could be blocked by the courts. On Thursday night, a federal judge temporarily restrained the government from carrying out any reductions in force across 18 agencies.
And if the layoffs go forward, there are rules governing how government agencies can make them. Part of the process is assigning scores to individual employees based on their length of service, performance and veteran status. Those with the highest scores are supposed to be prioritized for finding other jobs in the agency.
Here is what we know about the reduction in force efforts at various agencies.
Education Department
More than 1,300 workers were fired this week.
This is in addition to the 572 who took resignation packages and 63 probationary workers who have been fired. The reductions have cut the size of the agency, which started the year with 4,133 workers, in half.
Last month, the agency sent an email offering employees a buyout ahead of “very significant” layoffs.
Veterans Affairs Department
The department has planned to cut 80,000 people. That number could include people who are retiring or taking a buyout, however.
In total, the department is looking to shrink its work force from 482,000 to 399,957.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
The agency has planned to cut at least 1,000 people. This is in addition to 1,300 workers who have resigned or were laid off.
Together, the reductions would represent nearly 20 percent of NOAA’s approximately 13,000-member work force.
Food and Drug Administration
The agency held a meeting with employees on Thursday but did not say how many cuts they were looking to make, according to two employees who spoke on the condition of anonymity. Officials presented workers with a list of job categories that were eligible for voluntary separation packages. This included staff focused on laboratory safety, ethics management, records management and the Freedom of Information Act, which enables the public to access government records. Workers were told those jobs could also be targeted for layoffs.
Social Security Administration
The agency has planned cuts of about 7,000 workers, including those opting to retire or resign. The goal is to reduce the work force to 50,000, according to the agency.
NASA
The agency said it would cut jobs by closing specific offices. The Office of Technology, Policy and Strategy; the Office of the Chief Scientist; and the Office of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility were targeted, as well as some other employees in the Office of Diversity and Equal Opportunity, according to a March 10 memo shared with The Times.
The agency did not provide a total number of cuts.
Defense Department
A recent memo stated that the department hopes to make reductions through voluntary early retirements and resignation incentives, like buyouts. Plans to make additional work force cuts are due to the department’s head of civilian personnel policy by March 20, the memo said.
Housing and Urban Development
The agency previously announced layoff plans for 144 employees in its Office of Field Policy and Management. It has not disclosed other details about future cuts.
Christina Jewett and Helene Cooper contributed reporting.
