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, 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 — composed of a majority of non-career political appointees — to approve the creation or filling of every vacancy, and mandates that all career hiring be "consistent with the national interest, agency needs, and the priorities of my Administration." Civil service experts described the requirement as unlike anything previously seen in merit-system governance, warning it erases the distinction between merit-based and patronage-based hiring.