Title: Trump’s Plan Could Relocate or Reclassify More Than 100,000 Federal Workers
According to his campaign site, former president Donald Trump has proposed a plan that could upend the lives of an estimated 150,000 federal workers in the DMV area. This proposal involves the reclassification of as many as 50,000 civil servants as political appointees and potential relocation of approximately 100,000 government jobs from Washington, D.C.
To restore the president’s authority to remove “rogue bureaucrats,” Trump announced he would reissue his 2020 Executive Order upon election. This order could strip tens of thousands of civil servants of their job protections, transforming them into political appointees subject to removal for political reasons. This action would conveniently align with Trump’s conservative agenda, potentially allowing him to replace these federal workers with individuals more inclined to carry it out.
Opponents claim that the number may extend beyond 50,000. “That’s just the tip of the iceberg,” noted Everett Kelley, National President of the American Federation of Government Employees, the largest union representing federal and D.C. government workers. Kelley estimates that closer to 500,000 federal workers countrywide could risk losing their jobs for political reasons under Trump’s plan.
This move towards job reclassification and potential layoffs is part of the “Project 2025 Presidential Transition Project,” a 900-plus page document organized by former Trump staffers and authored by the Heritage Project. This ultra-conservative guide details a strategy for enacting a comprehensive list of conservative values and policies within the first 180 days of the new administration.
Trump has ostensibly denied any direct knowledge of the Project 2025 proposals. The Heritage Foundation underlined in a statement that the project is a coalition of over 110 conservative groups that does not represent any candidate or campaign, but is designed to steer the next conservative president—which they anticipate will be Trump.
However, Trump’s plan is not limited to civil servant reclassification. He has also endorsed another Project 2025 recommendation, which outlines relocating as many as 100,000 government positions out of Washington, D.C. to regions “filled with patriots who love America.”
In his previous term, Trump had initiated this relocation process, transferring the Bureau of Land Management headquarters and over 300 jobs from Washington, D.C. to Colorado. This move was reversed by President Joe Biden, restoring all relocated positions to the capital.
This time, in the event of his re-election, Trump is considering far-reaching impacts on the constituents of Washington D.C., even suggesting the potential dismantling of the Department of Education. The colossal loss of 100,000 government jobs would not only severely impact the families of federal workers but could also devastate D.C.’s post-pandemic economy, already struggling to recover from a massive loss of tax revenue.
