The Trump Administration has extended its Federal government-wide hiring freeze until mid-October – just days before the hiring pause was scheduled to expire.
The hiring freeze was first announced in January and was set to expire on July 15 after an additional extension in April.
There are some limited exceptions to the extension, according to an executive order from the White House signed by President Donald Trump on Monday.
Similar to the administration’s previous memos on the freeze, those not affected by the pause include military members, civilian positions handling immigration enforcement, national security, and public safety.
Despite being allowed to continue bringing in military personnel, the Department of Defense is currently under a self-imposed partial hiring freeze for its own civilian workforce.
“Contracting outside the Federal Government to circumvent the intent of this memorandum is prohibited,” reads the order, adding that “heads of agencies shall seek efficient use of existing personnel and funds to improve public services and the delivery of those services.”
The order comes as tens of thousands of Federal workers have been laid off since the second Trump administration began in January, with the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) announcing on Monday that it will cut its workforce by 30,000 employees without using reduction-in-force methods by the end of fiscal year 2025.
While Federal agencies cannot hire externally, the order allows for “staff reallocations or reassignments to meet the highest priority needs, maintain essential services, and protect national security, homeland security, and public safety.”
Trump also said that the Office of Personnel Management could grant exceptions to the freeze as “otherwise necessary.”
The initial freeze ordered by Trump in January – and the following extension – was imposed to evaluate how to reduce the Federal workforce through “efficiency, improvements and attrition” focused hiring approach.
If Trump decides to lift the hiring freeze later this year, a merit hiring plan published by OPM in May rules that agencies cannot hire more than employee for every four vacancies, while maintaining the original order’s exceptions to that rule.
The White House has not provided any additional details on why the hiring freeze has been extended.