On Monday, President Donald Trump initiated a series of executive orders, one of which significantly impacts the federal workforce by imposing a hiring freeze applicable to a majority of federal positions. According to KXAN, exceptions to this freeze include positions related to immigration enforcement, national security, and public safety. This order extends to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), an agency already trying to reconcile with over 380 job vacancies listed on USAJOBS, the federal government’s official employment website.
The Taxpayer Advocate Service, an independent organization within the IRS, published a 2025 report revealing the persistent difficulties in recruitment, hiring, and retention. This struggle has been a contributing factor to prolonged return processing and consequential refund delays for taxpayers. A statement obtained by KXAN from the president's office, found in the "America First Priorities" list, expressed an unapologetic stance, stating "[Trump] will freeze bureaucrat hiring except in essential areas to end the onslaught of useless and overpaid DEI activists buried in the federal workforce." The freeze is expected to stay in place for at least 90 days for all federal agencies, with an indefinite extension for the IRS until the Treasury Secretary deems it necessary to lift the order.
Moreover, the President has tasked the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) with the responsibility to quickly devise a plan designed to reduce the size of the federal workforce, an endeavour to be completed before mid-April. This directive was reported by MSN as part of the broader sweep of executive orders following the president's inauguration. It manifests a further concretization of Trump's campaign promises, translating into palpable policy shifts.
In response to other aspects of Trump's policy moves, organizations such as the ACLU are already mobilizing against potentials of increased immigrant raids and mass deportations, which might be anticipated given the prioritization of hiring for immigration enforcement roles. Such measures continue to polarize communities and institutions, indicating a period of intensified legal battles and social discourse to unfurl in the nation's near future.
