Trump administration scrambles to rehire key federal workers after DOGE firings
A meteorologist at the National Weather Service offices in Dickinson, Texas, tracks data points in May 2022. Cuts to personnel made by the Department of Government Efficiency are now quietly being undone as the federal government looks to rehire staff at a variety of agencies. Photo by Brett Coomer / Houston Chronicle / Getty Images
CNN
Federal agencies are rehiring and ordering back from leave some of the employees who were laid off in the weeks after President Donald Trump took office as they scramble to fill critical gaps in services left by the Department of Government Efficiency-led effort to shrink the federal workforce.
The Trump administration’s quiet backtracking from the firings and voluntary retirements — which are also paired with new hires to fill vacancies those departures created — come as federal agencies are still implementing their “reduction-in-force” plans as part of a push for spending cuts.
Experts warned that even though the Trump administration has backtracked on some of its efforts to shrink the federal workforce, the rapid rehirings are a warning sign that it has lost more capacities and expertise that could prove critical — and difficult to replace — in the months and years ahead.
ADDITIONAL NEWS FROM THE INTEGRITY PROJECT
