Memo Kickstarts Trump Plan to Get Rid of Career Officials

Federal agencies must develop plans to eliminate employee positions, according to a memo distributed Wednesday by President Trump's administration that sets in motion what could become a sweeping realignment of the American government. The memo expands the Republican president's effort to downsize the federal workforce, which he has described as an impediment to his agenda. Thousands of probationary employees have already been fired, and now his administration is turning its attention to career officials with civil service protection. More from the AP, which notes law enforcement, national security, public safety, military positions, and US Postal Service positions are exempt:

• Standout quote: "We're cutting down the size of government. We have to," Trump said during the first Cabinet meeting of his second term. (The memo—from Budget Director Russell Vought and Office of Personnel Management acting director Charles Ezell—was released just before the meeting.) "We're bloated. We're sloppy. We have a lot of people that aren't doing their job."
• Deadline I: Agencies are directed to submit by March 13 their plans for what is known as a reduction in force, which would not only lay off employees but eliminate their positions altogether. The result could be extensive changes in how government functions.
• Deadline II: More plans are due on April 14, when agencies are expected to outline how they will consolidate management, become more efficient, and potentially relocate offices to parts of the country that are less expensive than Washington. The memo said agencies should implement their plans by Sept. 30.
• Who should go: The memo recommends agencies look to eliminate "duplicative" jobs, consolidate management, put in place technology that can "automate routine tasks," and terminate "underperforming employees or employees engaged in misconduct," reports NBC News.
• From the memo: "The federal government is costly, inefficient, and deeply in debt. At the same time, it is not producing results for the American public. Instead, tax dollars are being siphoned off to fund unproductive and unnecessary programs that benefit radical interest groups while hurting hard-working American citizens."
• One criticism: Kevin Owen, an employment lawyer who represents federal workers, compared the administration's initiative to the kind of disruptions that are caused by government shutdowns during congressional budget standoffs. "This looks like a plan for a significant and shocking reduction of the federal workforce that I don't think the American people are prepared for," Owen said. "It's going to cripple a lot of government functions."

(More President Trump stories.)