Office Closures and Relocations Part of Trump’s Plan for Large-Scale Layoffs

The Trump administration has moved into its next push and most aggressive yet to drastically overhaul the federal bureaucracy, demanding that agencies produce plans for large work force cuts that involve closing offices and relocating employees outside the Washington region.

Agencies have been instructed to turn in a detailed list of divisions that should be consolidated or cut entirely by March 13, according to a recent memo from the Office of Personnel Management and Office of Management and Budget, as part of a “reduction in force” process ordered by President Trump and orchestrated in large part by Elon Musk, the billionaire who has become a top adviser.

By April 14, agencies must deliver new organizational charts and all proposals for relocating offices in the Washington region to areas of the country where the cost of living is lower, according to the memo. Agencies were instructed to be prepared to roll out this part of the plan by the end of September.

For government agencies to fulfill these requirements would be an ambitious undertaking under any circumstances. But to accomplish this in accordance with the law in such a short time frame is most likely impossible, experts say.

“No agency can do a genuine strategic plan in the next two weeks,” said Donald F. Kettl, professor emeritus and the former dean of the University of Maryland’s School of Public Policy. “They need to figure out what they want to do and how best to do it, before they take a chain saw to government and cut indiscriminately.”

The government is expected to follow specific rules when conducting these reductions in force. For one, employees need 60 days’ notice, said Kevin Owen, an employment lawyer with Gilbert Employment Law. (The recent White House guidance said that agencies can request an exception to provide just 30 days’ notice.)