Ensuring Continued Accountability in Federal Hiring
The order imposes a government-wide ban on filling vacant federal civilian positions or creating new ones unless approved through newly required agency Strategic Hiring Committees and Annual Staffing Plans, with explicit carve-outs for national security, immigration enforcement, and public safety roles.
Establishes a layered oversight structure — agency committees, OPM, and OMB — to govern all future career federal hiring, formalizing and extending a workforce-reduction approach the administration says has already cut federal employment significantly.
What this order does
What it orders
The order directs all executive agencies to freeze most civilian hiring: no vacant position may be filled and no new position may be created unless the process it establishes is followed. Each agency head must create a Strategic Hiring Committee within 30 days to approve every hire and notify OPM of each approval. Within 60 days, agencies must submit Annual Staffing Plans to OPM and OMB identifying highest-need areas aligned with administration priorities, and must provide quarterly progress updates beginning in Q2 of fiscal year 2026. Within 180 days, the directors of OMB and OPM must submit a joint implementation report to the President.
The order carves out immigration enforcement, national security, and public safety positions entirely, as well as presidential appointees, Senior Executive Service non-career positions, Schedule C and Schedule G excepted-service posts, and military personnel. Agency heads appointed by the President may approve additional non-career hires. The OPM Director may grant further exemptions and may also carry forward exemptions previously issued under a January 2025 hiring freeze memorandum. Contracting out federal work to circumvent the freeze is expressly prohibited. Social Security, Medicare, and veterans' benefit administration are shielded from adverse impact.
Who it affects
All executive branch agencies and their career civilian workforces are directly constrained. Current federal employees seeking promotions or reassignments and external applicants for most career federal positions face new committee-approval requirements. Contractors who might otherwise absorb displaced work are also subject to the anti-circumvention provision.
Why it matters
Most federal agencies cannot hire career civilian employees without committee approval and a pre-approved staffing plan, potentially slowing the replacement of departing workers. The practical pace of hiring — and therefore agency capacity to deliver services — will depend on how quickly the new approval layers process requests.
What must happen and when
How the order is supposed to work
Hiring must clear two approval layers before a position can be filled: the agency's own Strategic Hiring Committee and consistency with the Annual Staffing Plan submitted to OPM and OMB. Committees must notify OPM after each approved hire. Agencies update their plans quarterly, giving OPM and OMB ongoing visibility. OPM holds centralized override power through its exemption authority. The 180-day joint OMB/OPM report triggers a formal presidential review of whether provisions should be modified or terminated, providing a built-in sunset check. The order explicitly bans outsourcing to circumvent the freeze.
Actions and deadlines
- Establish a Strategic Hiring Committee to approve all position creations and vacancy fills
- Prepare and submit Annual Staffing Plans to OPM and OMB for the upcoming fiscal year
- Submit quarterly updates to OPM and OMB showing Annual Staffing Plan implementation progress
- Submit joint OMB and OPM implementation report to the President with modification or termination recommendations