Trump's administration argues that publicly disclosing their mass layoff plans would negatively impact their recruitment and retention efforts.
The White House is moving forward with its consolidation plans, despite a temporary restraining order, as various departments scramble to adjust their strategies.
The Interior Department, for instance, is pushing ahead with its Agency Reform, Restructuring, and Reorganization (ARRP) plans, which involve consolidating support functions such as contracting, finance, human resources, communications, and more. These plans, which could take years to implement, contain sensitive information that could potentially undermine agency operations.
However, the Justice Department has clarified that nothing in the plans "irrevocably commits an agency to taking any specific step." This statement comes after a judge's order to strip the "for cause" language from termination notices at the Health and Human Services Department (HHS), making them more akin to a Reduction-in-Force (RIF).
The initial probationary firings at HHS, which took place in February, were not conducted using RIF proceedings but instead as regular firings. These dismissals were undone by a now-defunct court order. Last week, HHS re-fired its probationary employees, with the dismissals effective from May 8.
At the National Science Foundation (NSF), layoffs and administrative leave for employees in its Equity for Excellence in STEM division have been suspended through May 23, due to the temporary restraining order. The departments of Agriculture and Treasury have also put their expected layoffs on hold until May 23.
The ARRPs contain a wide range of plans and strategies, including union negotiations, regulatory changes, future appropriations requests, congressional engagement, and agency IT management. The Trump administration has voiced concern that releasing these plans could hurt its ability to retain current workers and recruit new ones.
The plaintiffs in the case, led by the non-profit group Democracy Forward, want the judge to delay the release of the plans but not put the larger temporary restraining order on hold. The Senior Advisor at the Office of Management and Budget, Stephen Billy, argued in a court filing that releasing the plans would cause "irreparable harm" to the government.
Reporting for this article was contributed by David DiMolfetta. The name of the Senior Advisor at the Office of Management and Budget who made this argument is not explicitly mentioned in the provided search results.
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