President Donald Trump put an end to remote work in the federal government through an executive order signed on his first day in office on Monday. In it, he tasked the leaders of all departments and agencies with enforcing a fully in-person workweek.
Federal department heads have to “take all necessary steps” to end remote work “as soon as practicable,” and bring back fully in-person work for employees, the order reads.
However, the order clarifies that they can make exceptions as needed to this policy.
President Donald Trump. Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Trump also implemented a hiring freeze for federal civilian employees. No new positions can be created and no federal vacancies can be filled as of January 20.
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Trump signed another federal workforce-related executive order on Monday titled “Restoring Accountability to Policy-Influencing Positions Within Our Federal Workforce” that reinstates the “Schedule F” executive order Trump signed when previously in office in October 2020.
Schedule F is an employment category for federal employees who have roles with some influence over policy or confidential matters. The designation converts at least 50,000 of the more than 2 million-person federal workforce to “at-will” employees without employment protections. In effect, these employees would be easier to fire.
“Only 41 percent of civil service supervisors are confident that they can remove an employee who engaged in insubordination or serious misconduct,” the new executive order reads. “Even fewer supervisors –- 26 percent — are confident that they can remove an employee for poor performance.”
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The executive order strives to keep the federal workforce accountable to the President.
The National Treasury Employees Union filed a lawsuit against Trump late Monday claiming that the executive order “will radically reshape the civil service” by increasing the number of employees who fall under Schedule F and are “at risk of dismissal.”
Trump announced via Truth Social shortly after midnight on Tuesday that his Presidential Personnel office is looking through and could possibly remove more than 1,000 federal appointees from the previous administration.
He then fired four people through the post: Jose Andres from the President’s Council on Sports, Fitness and Nutrition; Mark Milley from the National Infrastructure Advisory Council; Brian Hook from the Wilson Center for Scholars; and Keisha Lance Bottoms from the President’s Export Council.
Trump signed other executive orders related to economic policy on Monday, including emergency price relief to lower housing costs, create employment opportunities, and lower healthcare costs.
