Summary of Executive Orders & Memos Related to Civil Servants

Updated March 16 2025.

The Trump Administration’s assault on the federal workforce continues with a flurry of Executive Orders, memos from OPM, and calls for action from the White House. Civil servants may be particularly interested in the directives below. 

For more information on these and other directives, visit Democracy 2025's Response Center which provides real-time analysis of the Trump-Vance administration’s actions to support legal challenges and provide resources for the pro-democracy community. 

RIFs and Re-Organization Plans
On February 26, pursuant to President Trump’s executive order, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issued a memorandum to all federal agency heads with guidance on implementing large-scale reductions in force (“RIFs”) and re-organization plans.  Per the memo, agencies must submit RIFs and reorganization plans no later than March 13 that include among other items, a list of “all agency components and employees performing functions not mandated by statute or regulation who are not typically designated as essential during a lapse in appropriations.” 

Mass Termination of Probationary Employees
On January 20, OPM issued a memorandum titled: “Guidance on Probationary Periods, Administrative Leave and Details,” which required agencies to identify and submit to OPM a list of employees within their probationary periods  On February 11, President Trump issued a sweeping Executive Order titled “Implementing the President’s “Department of Government Efficiency Workforce Optimization Initiative,” which directed all agency heads to “initiate large-scale reductions in force.” In response to these directives, beginning February 12, multiple agencies terminated probationary employees en masse solely because of their time in service.   ** **

Restricting Collective Bargaining
On January 31, President Trump issued an executive order instructing federal agencies not to approve collective bargaining agreements executed in the 30 days prior to January 20, 2025, arguing such agreements “improperly attempt to constrain the new president.” Since then, OPM has issued memos directing agency heads to disregard collective bargaining agreement provisions related to telework and remote work and  reductions in force (RIFs). OPM has also advised agencies that it is taking the positions that provisions of deferred resignation agreements (“Fork in the Road”) and the classification of policy-making (“Schedule F”) positions are not subject to union negotiations.

Dismantling Agencies, Boards and Commissions, Presidential Management Fellows Program
On February 11, President Trump issued an Executive Order titled: Commencing the Reduction of the Federal Bureaucracy. Among other things, the EO directs “eliminat[ing] to the maximum extent consistent with applicable law”  Presidio Trust, Inter-American Foundation (IAF), U.S. African Development Foundation (USADF), and U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP). Democracy Forward filed a lawsuit on behalf of USADF and is continuing to pursue protections for USADF personnel and mission. The EO also eliminated the Presidential Management Fellows (PMF) program. For over 40 years, this highly competitive program has been a pipeline for young, talented, aspiring civil servants to serve in government. 
On March 14, President Trump issued a second Executive Order that directs “eliminat[ing] to the maximum extent consistent with applicable law:” U.S. Agency for Global Media (which oversees Voice of America), Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in the Smithsonian Institution, Institute of Museum and Library Services, U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness, Community Development Financial Institutions Fund, and Minority Business Development Agency.

Targeted Removal of DEIA Activities and Staff
On January 21, OPM issued a memo directing agencies to dismantle Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) programs across federal agencies, as directed by President Trump’s recent executive order. It mandates placing DEIA staff on leave, closing DEIA offices, removing public-facing DEIA materials, canceling DEIA activities, and reporting compliance actions, including plans for staff reductions.  OPM issued a follow up memo three days later, on January 24, directing agencies to begin issuing RIF notices to employees of “DEIA” offices.  And on February 5, OPM issued yet another memo directing agencies to discontinue any “Special Emphasis Programs” on hiring, training or professional development that focus on protected characteristics, including race and gender, and specifically to end “diverse slate” policies. 

These measures effectively purge DEIA efforts from the federal government, halting progress on inclusivity and equity. By targeting DEIA staff and programs, the administration undermines diversity in the federal workforce and  ultimately weaken democracy by marginalizing initiatives that promote fairness, equity, and representation in government institutions.

Flooding the Federal Government with Unqualified Political Appointees
Using a combination of Executive Orders and memos, lifted caps on political appointments, bypassed Senate confirmations, and waived background checks, granting unvetted appointees access to sensitive information. 

Hiring Freeze
This Executive Order places a freeze on vast swaths of federal hiring, making it harder for the government to provide critical services and protections. This order institutes an immediate hiring freeze throughout the executive branch, with some exceptions. It also provides for the White House's Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to consult with the DOGE on a plan to reduce the size of the Federal Government’s workforce. The IRS is targeted for a lengthier freeze than the rest of government. This overbroad and arbitrary freeze will make it harder for the government to staff essential positions that benefit all Americans.

Return to In-Person Work
This Executive Order commands all federal remote workers back to the office full-time, without regard to the disruptions it could cause. This order directs agencies to terminate remote work arrangements and require remote workers to return to the office full-time. Only department and agency heads can grant exceptions, and there are no standards listed for those exceptions. This will create major hardships for remote workers, despite remote work being common outside the government, and it will make it harder for the government to provide essential services and protections.

Schedule F
This Executive Order reinstates "Schedule F" and makes it easier to fire career civil servants who provide critical services to all Americans. By making it easier to fire career civil servants, this executive order significantly impairs our government's ability to provide essential services that millions of Americans rely on. Indeed, career civil servants are nonpartisan experts who help keep our food, medicine, transportation, and water safe; secure our public safety and our national security; deliver our mail; support our education and health care systems; and work in our court houses, our airports, our national parks, and so much more. This order could enable a political leader to replace these nonpartisan public servants with partisan ideologues.

Career Senior Executive Service
This Executive Order injects politics into the hiring, review, and retention of public servants in the "Senior Executive Service" who keep the government running for the American people. The January executive order  directs Trump-Vance political appointees to control various personnel affecting non-partisan senior executives. The key initiatives include requiring that performance plans are set centrally, rather than by supervisors; reassigning these senior executives without real guidance; and, having political appointees dominate the internal boards that oversee hiring and performance. 

OPM issued a follow up memo upending the SES performance appraisal system to give critical weight to how well the senior executive carries out the President’s policies.  

OPM also issued memos directing federal agencies to convert any Chief Information Officer (CIO) and / or Chief Human Capital Officer (CHCO) roles currently designated “career-reserved SES” to “SES general” so those positions can be filled by either career or non-career appointees, as well as any “career-reserved SES” positions that were designated as “SES general” on January 19, 2021 or “filled by non-career appointments for the majority of the prior administration’s tenure.” 

The clear purpose is to harass and attempt to control nonpartisan public servants who have the most experience delivering for Americans. 

Establishing and Implementing the President's "Department of Government Efficiency" 
This Executive Order establishes the "Department of Government Efficiency," which has been tasked with modernizing federal technology and software to maximize governmental efficiency. This executive order claims to create the "Department of Government Efficiency" as a Temporary Organization under 5 U.S.C. 3161, with a stated purpose to modernize federal technology and software in order to maximize governmental efficiency and productivity. Such a mission may appear to be benign, or even a positive development for the federal bureaucracy, but Donald Trump, Elon Musk, and others associated with DOGE have made clear their intent to target, overrule, or undermine civil servants; roll back important protections that keep us safe; and, cut massive programs that benefit tens of millions of Americans.

Reforming the Federal Hiring Process and Restoring Merit to Government Service
This Executive Order directs political appointees and the DOGE to create a hiring plan that would further undermine career public servants and their ability to serve the American people. This order begins by repeating falsehoods about federal hiring, including claims that it is driven by illegal, discriminatory preferences, rather than the merit system it is actually based on. It then uses that false premise to order political loyalists — including the yet-unnamed leader of the DOGE — to create a federal hiring plan accordingly. The order may increase, rather than decrease, hiring discrimination by assessing candidates based on easily manipulated attributes like faithfulness to the Executive Branch — rather than the country or our Constitution.