The Trump administration’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and Office of Personnel Management (OPM) went on a memo blitz Monday, sending at least three letters to federal agency leaders on directives stretching from return to office instructions to pausing federal grants, copies of the memos obtained by Fox News Digital show.
President Donald Trump’s administration already has issued a handful of directives aimed at federal agency heads since he took office Jan. 20, including ordering agency chiefs to shutter diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) offices, which was followed by another memo to begin terminating DEI chiefs.
On Monday, the OMB, an executive office that evaluates agency programs and handles the president’s budget, and OPM, an independent agency that serves as the federal government’s human resources department, issued memos on Monday to further move federal agencies in line with the president’s vision of government.
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Then-former President Donald Trump arrives at an election night watch party at the Palm Beach Convention Center on Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024 in West Palm Beach, Florida. (Evan Vucci/AP)
Return to office plans
A joint OMB and OPM memo sent Monday regarding return to office plans outlined that agency heads have until Feb. 7 to provide a plan on returning staff schedules to full-time in-person work.
Agencies must “prepare plans to expeditiously implement” the memo and submit their plans “for review and approval by no later than Friday, February 7th at 5:00pm EST,” the memo, obtained by Fox News Digital, states.
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The directive, addressed to “heads of executive departments and agencies,” detailed that agency chiefs must craft plans that include details such as how they will “revise telework agreements for all eligible employees,” as well as “provide timelines for the return of all eligible employees to in-person work as expeditiously as possible, including the date that the agency will be in full compliance,” and “describe agency’s process for determining exceptions based on disability, qualifying medical condition, and or other compelling reason.”
Both the acting director of OMB, Matthew J. Vaeth, and OPM acting director, Charles Ezell, issued the memo.
The directive comes after Trump railed against federal employees working from home years after the pandemic and social distancing mandates ended. On his first day in office, Trump issued a presidential action calling on federal agencies to terminate remote work.
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Executive branch department and agency heads “shall, as soon as practicable, take all necessary steps to terminate remote work arrangements and require employees to return to work in-person at their respective duty stations on a full-time basis, provided that the department and agency heads shall make exemptions they deem necessary,” the Jan. 20 presidential action read.
Pausing federal grants and loans in effort to end ‘wokeness’
The OMB issued another memo on Monday that pauses all federal grants and loans, out of an effort to end “‘wokeness’ and the weaponization of government,” and to promote “efficiency in government.”
“Federal agencies must temporarily pause all activities related to obligation or disbursement of all Federal financial assistance, and other relevant agency activities that may be implicated by the executive orders, including, but not limited to, financial assistance for foreign aid, nongovernmental organizations, DEI, woke gender ideology, and the green new deal,” the memo, obtained by Fox Digital reads.
The pause takes effect at 5 p.m. ET on Tuesday.
The memo explained that out of the $10 trillion spent by the federal government in fiscal year 2024, $3 trillion was allocated to “federal financial assistance, such as grants and loans.”
“Career and political appointees in the Executive Branch have a duty to align Federal spending and action with the will of the American people as expressed through Presidential priorities,” the memo states. “Financial assistance should be dedicated to advancing Administration priorities, focusing taxpayer dollars to advance a stronger and safer America, eliminating the financial burden of inflation for citizens, unleashing American energy and manufacturing, ending ‘wokeness’ and the weaponization of government, promoting efficiency in government, and Making America Healthy Again.”
The memo was sent to all heads of executive departments and agencies by Vaeth.
“The use of Federal resources to advance Marxist equity, transgenderism, and green new deal social engineering policies is a waste of taxpayer dollars that does not improve the day-to-day lives of those we serve,” it adds.
Agency chiefs are required to submit “detailed information on any programs, projects or activities subject to this pause” to the OMB by Feb. 10 for review.
New federal employee classification
Agency leaders were directed in another memo sent Monday by OPM to review government positions that could be moved to the Trump administration’s new “schedule policy/career” federal employee classification.
Trump signed an executive order on his first day in office focused on federal employees who hold sway over policy decisions, as part of an effort to “maintain professionalism and accountability within the civil service,” which Trump’s order said was “sorely lacking.”
The executive order created a new “schedule policy/career” federal employee classification, which will work to remove civil protections from federal employees in “policy-influencing” positions, making the individuals more vulnerable for termination.
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Then-former President Donald Trump speaks at a rally in Uniondale, New York on Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (Julia Bonavita/Fox News Digital)
Trump’s executive order creates a new classification “for positions that are of a confidential, policy-determining, policy-making, or policy- advocating character (policy-influencing positions) and filled by individuals not normally subject to replacement or change as a result of a Presidential transition. Such career positions will be rescheduled into Schedule Policy/Career,” the memo stated.
The memo states that agency leaders have until April 20 to craft a plan on positions that would shift to the new classification. The 90-day period for review began on Jan. 20, when Trump signed the executive order.
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“Agencies have 90 days to conduct a preliminary review of positions and submit petitions, with an additional 120 days to finalize their review and submit any remaining petitions,” the memo reads. “Agencies may, and are encouraged to, submit such petitions on a rolling basis.”
