The Department of Defense has officially lifted its hiring restrictions on jobs that began in January of this year. Deputy Secretary of Defense Robert Work said in a memo:
Although the restrictions are no longer in place, in keeping with the strategic direction established by Executive Order 13871, the OMB memorandum and ongoing Departmental organizational reviews mandated by the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal 2017, I expect components to scrutinize carefully all recruitment and hiring actions and undertake to recruit or hire only when such are wholly consistent with the principles, requirements, and actions set forth in the OMB memorandum.
“What we’re doing tomorrow is replacing the across-the-board hiring freeze that was put in place on day one and replacing it with a smarter plan, a more strategic plan, a more surgical plan,” said Office of Managment and Budget (OMB) Director Mick Mulvaney. “This is a big part of draining the swamp. Really, what you’re talking about doing is restructuring Washington, D.C. That is how you drain the swamp.”
Agencies that have received more funding to their budgets such as the Department of Veteran Affairs and the Department of Defense would be easily able to hire new employees, but critical jobs such as the Environmental Protection Agency whose budget was drastically cut would likely not have the ability to bring on more workers.
President Donald Trump instituted the federal hiring ban shortly after he took office on January 23rd.
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