The Trump administration prepares the scenario for layoffs of large -scale federal workers in a new note

WASHINGTON – Federal agencies must develop plans to eliminate employee positions, According to a memo Distributed Wednesday by the President Donald Trump The administration that implements what could become a radical realignment of the US government.

The memorandum expands the effort of the Republican president to reduce the size of the Federal Work Force, which has described as an impediment to its agenda. Thousands of test employees They have already been firedAnd now his administration is directing his attention to career officials with civil service protection.

“We are reducing government size. We have to, “Trump said during the first meeting of the cabinet of his second term.” We are swollen. We are careless. We have many people who are not doing their job. “

The undulation effects will be felt throughout the country. Approximately four fifths of federal workers live outside the Washington area, and government services (patent approvals, food inspections, park maintenance and more) could be hindered depending on how the cuts are handled.

Resistance is expected. Labor unions, democratic state leaders and other organizations have tried, with some success, stop Trump with litigation, while Republicans are increasingly concerned about how a court and burning strategy could affect their constituents.

The agencies are ordered to present their plans for what is known as a reduction in force before March 13, which would not only fire employees but also eliminate the position completely. The result could be extensive changes in the way the government works.

On April 14, more plans must overcome, when agencies are expected to describe how they will consolidate the management, they will become more efficient and potentially relocate the offices in parts of the country that are less expensive than Washington. Memorandum said agencies must implement their plans before September 30.

Administration officials framed their effort as a cost savings measure but with a clear ideological objective.

“The federal government is expensive, inefficient and deeply in debt. At the same time, it is not producing results for the American public, “said Russell Vought memorandum, director of the White House Management and Budget Office, and Charles Ezell, interim director of the Office of Personnel Management, which functions as a human resources agency.

Vought was an author or project 2025, a conservative plan for Trump’s second term, and has advocated centralizing power under the presidency and dismantling the federal bureaucracy.

“We are not going to save our country without a bit of confrontation,” Vought said last summer during a podcast organized by Trump Stephen Bannon’s ally.

Kevin Owen, an employment lawyer who represents federal workers, compared the administration initiative with the type of interruptions caused by the closure of the government during the budgetary clashes of the Congress.

“This seems like a plan for a significant and impressive reduction of the federal workforce for which I do not believe that the American people are prepared,” Owen said. “It will paralyze many government functions.”

He said Trump and his allies were focusing on speed instead of precision while checking the government.

“His plan is to do the damage and be sued,” he said. If a court finally governs against them, “at that time, they would have obtained what they wanted in the interim.”

The specific objectives for reductions were not included in the memorandum, but Trump said the Environmental Protection Agency could reduce its workforce by 65%.

Trump foreshadowed the effort in an executive order signed with Elon Musk, the billionaire businessman who supervises the so -called government efficiency department, known as Doge.

The order said that the agency leaders “will immediately undertake preparations to initiate large -scale reductions in force” or RIF.

Some departments have already begun this process. The General Services Administration, which manages federal real estate, told employees on Monday that a force reduction was underway and that “everything in our power to make their departure be fair and worthy.”

The application of the law, national security, public security, military positions and postal service positions of the United States are exempt.

The memorandum was launched shortly before Trump summoned the cabinet officials, as well as Musk, who attended the meeting with a black campaign hat “Make America Great Again”.

Musk was described during the meeting as “humble technical support” for the federal government, and spoke about its cost reduction crusade in existential terms.

“If we don’t do this, the United States will declare bankruptcy,” he said.

The musk has caused agitation Within the federal workforce, more recently demanding that employees justify their work or risk being fired. Later, OPM said the edict was voluntary, although workers could face similar applications in the future.

He described his application as a “pulse check.”

“Are these people real? Are they alive? And can they write an email? said.

Before the meeting, the White House Secretary, Karoline Leavitt, told journalists that “all cabinet secretaries take the advice and direction of Doge.”

“They will provide updates about their efforts, and will also provide updates on what they are doing in their agencies in terms of policies and implementing the promises that the president made in the campaign,” Leavitt said.

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Associated Press’s writer Bill Barrow in Atlanta, contributed to this report.