Trump signs EO 14356 indefinitely extending federal hiring freeze, placing political appointees in control of all career hiring

On October 15, 2025, President Trump signed Executive Order 14356, "Ensuring Continued Accountability in Federal Hiring," indefinitely extending the federal hiring freeze that had been scheduled to expire that day. The order requires every federal agency to establish a Strategic Hiring Committee — chaired by the deputy agency head and chief of staff, and composed of a majority of non-career (political) appointees — to approve the creation or filling of every vacancy. All career hiring must be "consistent with the national interest, agency needs, and the priorities of my Administration," and agencies must submit quarterly staffing plans to OPM and OMB aligned with administration priorities.

The Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 established merit system principles for career federal hiring, explicitly designed to eliminate political patronage and ensure employees are selected on qualifications. University of Maryland public affairs professor Don Kettl, quoted in Government Executive, called the requirement that hiring be "consistent with... the priorities of my Administration" "unlike anything I've ever seen in any hiring or merit system document whatsoever" and said experts "don't see a distinction between hiring based on merit or based on patronage." By placing a political-appointee-majority committee as a mandatory gatekeeper over every career vacancy, EO 14356 structurally overrides those statutory merit protections without congressional action.

The order came after the Trump administration had already reduced the federal workforce through the Deferred Resignation Program, probationary purges, and reductions in force, with departures running four-to-one over new hires. The indefinite extension of the freeze — combined with the political control requirement — converts what began as a temporary administrative hold into a permanent structural change to how career civil service positions are filled, a change the Civil Service Reform Act assigns to the legislative branch, not the executive.