A hiring freeze that went into place March 2 is having unintended consequences across the Defense Department, as countless civilian employees preparing to move to new roles at new duty stations have been told to “cease and desist” with their travel plans.
This includes staff who have already sent their household goods ahead to their new homes, unenrolled their kids from school and broken their leases, according to two DOD civilians who spoke with Defense One.
“My household possessions, clothing, privately owned vehicle and other personal effects were packed and shipped at government expense prior to 28 Feb and are currently en route to the foreign destination via air and sea,” wrote one employee, whose identity is being withheld to protect against retaliation.
At the same time, they added, they have been told to cancel their plane tickets, leaving them and their family without a car or furniture while they wait for word on their permanent change-of-station move.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s Feb. 28 memo halting civilian hiring applied not just to new employees, but also to staff who were preparing to take on new roles within the department.
It does allow exemptions, but states specifically that Hegseth himself must approve them on a case-by-case basis.
“Considerations for exemptions include the extent to which a position directly contributes to the Department’s core functions, and also consider extenuating circumstances, such as where an employee has already conducted a geographic move in connection with a job offer,” a Defense official, who was not allowed to speak on the record, told Defense One.
The memo says that components should submit exemption requests to the Pentagon’s personnel directorate.
“I have no insight on what the approval criteria is since everything is done in a black hole with no amplifying details made,” the civilian said. “For SecDef to personally approve each case in all of DOD, I surmise it will take months to resolve individual cases—not much help to those like myself when time is of the essence with all or most of your personal possessions gone until further notice.”
This is the same interpretation of policy that swept longstanding DOD employees into consideration for layoffs as probationary workers. Though most probationary employees have that status because they recently joined the department, existing workers who receive a promotion or a transfer also enter a probationary period—although it applies to the new position, not to continued employment.
The Pentagon’s human-resources policies treat any new job as a hiring, meaning civilians who were due to take on new roles within their own offices are also in a holding pattern.
One Defense organization told its staff via email to “cease and desist” all PCS-related booking or travel, another civilian said. That was followed by emergency video conferencing with human resources to explain to employees what they’re supposed to do.
The only exception to the policy, the civilian added, is if the employee takes the voluntary early-retirement option offered to federal workers in January—meaning you can only move if you agree to leave.
“That is so insulting to us and so clearly a tactic to get us to quit so they can downsize,” the civilian said.
