513 events on record Subscribe June 29, 2026
Standing Record home The Standing Record A non-partisan record of US democratic norms —
and the events that erode them.

Trump signed EO 14210 ordering mass federal workforce reductions and granting DOGE political veto over career hiring

On February 11, 2025, President Trump signed Executive Order 14210, directing all federal agencies to begin large-scale reductions in force and imposing a 1:4 hiring cap allowing no more than one new hire per four departures. The order required DOGE-designated team leads to approve all new career civil service appointments, inserting a political veto into the merit-based hiring system the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 was designed to protect from partisan control. Agency DEI offices and units performing non-statutory functions were identified as priority targets for elimination.

Jurisdiction
federal
Location
Washington, D.C.

Abuses documented

Actors

On February 11, 2025, President Trump signed Executive Order 14210, "Implementing the President's Department of Government Efficiency Workforce Optimization Initiative," directing all federal agencies to undertake large-scale reductions in force. The order required agencies to immediately separate temporary employees and reemployed annuitants, and imposed a 1:4 hiring ratio — no more than one new hire per four departures — with exceptions limited to public safety, immigration enforcement, and law enforcement functions.

EO 14210 also required that DOGE-designated team leads approve all new career civil service appointments, inserting political oversight into the merit-based hiring process the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 established specifically to insulate career positions from partisan control. Agency DEI offices and units performing functions not mandated by statute were named as priority targets for elimination. The order served as the legal framework for a cascade of subsequent agency-specific reductions in force, including the Feb. 14 OPM directive separating probationary employees, the VA Syrek memo targeting approximately 83,000 positions (Mar. 4), and the Department of Education mass layoffs (Mar. 11).

Updates

2025-05-22 — Federal court issued preliminary injunction blocking EO 14210 RIFs at 22 agencies [4]

U.S. District Judge Susan Illston granted a preliminary injunction blocking the administration from implementing EO 14210 workforce reductions at 22 federal agencies, finding union and nonprofit challengers were likely to succeed on claims that the reductions violated the Administrative Procedure Act and the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978.

2025-07-08 — Supreme Court stayed the district court injunction in OPM v. AFGE [5]

The Supreme Court stayed the preliminary injunction in an unsigned order in OPM v. AFGE (No. 24A904), determining that the nonprofit organizational plaintiffs lacked standing to challenge the order. The stay allowed DOGE-directed workforce reductions to proceed at the 22 affected agencies.

Why we recorded this

The Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 established that career federal employees are hired on merit, not political allegiance, and serve across administrations to ensure continuity of government. EO 14210 directed mass workforce reductions targeting congressionally funded programs and required DOGE political approval for every new career hire, inserting partisan control into a merit-based system Congress designed to prevent it. This archive records when executive action systematically dismantles the structural separation between political and career government that democratic accountability depends on.

Sources

  1. Implementing the President's Department of Government Efficiency Workforce Optimization Initiative — The White House primary accessed June 28, 2026
  2. Executive Order 14210 — full text — GovInfo (Daily Compilation of Presidential Documents) primary accessed June 28, 2026
  3. Trump order limits agency hiring, puts DOGE leads in decision-making roles — FedScoop secondary accessed June 28, 2026
  4. Too Big to Be Lawful: A Federal Court Halts Mass Layoffs Across the Civil Service — Just Security investigative accessed June 28, 2026
  5. OPM v. AFGE: U.S. Supreme Court Docket (No. 24A904) — Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse secondary accessed June 28, 2026

See also