Latest news with #EfficiencyWorkforceOptimizationInitiative
Yahoo
10-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
NASA shutters DEI office as Trump admin downsizes federal agencies
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) will close several more offices within its agency as part of President Donald Trump's ongoing efforts to downsize the government, the acting administrator Janet Petro informed employees in a memo Monday. Petro said the "phased reduction in force" is "occurring in advance" of this week's deadline for federal agencies to inform the government of their layoff plans. "While this will mean making difficult adjustments, we're viewing this as an opportunity to reshape our workforce, ensuring we are doing what is statutorily required of us, while also providing American citizens with an efficient and effective agency," Petro wrote. Nasa Astronauts Not 'Fretting' Over Extended Mission, 'Grateful' For More Time In Space After Starliner Woes NASA's Office of Technology, Policy and Strategy; the Office of the Chief Scientist; and the Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility branch in the Office of Diversity and Equal Opportunity will be shuttered, in compliance with Trump's executive order, "Implementing the President's Department of Government Efficiency Workforce Optimization Initiative." Fox News Digital reached out to NASA to find out how many employees will be impacted by the office closures. Read On The Fox News App Trump To Shift Away From Dei Visa Policy That 'Surged' Under Biden, Expert Says Agencies are required by Thursday to report to the Office of Personnel Management about their plans to downsize their workforce, as announced last month by Trump and Elon Musk, the head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).Original article source: NASA shutters DEI office as Trump admin downsizes federal agencies
Fox News
10-03-2025
- Business
- Fox News
NASA shutters DEI office as Trump admin downsizes federal agencies
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) will close several more offices within its agency as part of President Donald Trump's ongoing efforts to downsize the government, the acting administrator Janet Petro informed employees in a memo Monday. Petro said the "phased reduction in force" is "occurring in advance" of this week's deadline for federal agencies to inform the government of their layoff plans. "While this will mean making difficult adjustments, we're viewing this as an opportunity to reshape our workforce, ensuring we are doing what is statutorily required of us, while also providing American citizens with an efficient and effective agency," Petro wrote. NASA's Office of Technology, Policy and Strategy; the Office of the Chief Scientist; and the Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility branch in the Office of Diversity and Equal Opportunity will be shuttered, in compliance with Trump's executive order, "Implementing the President's Department of Government Efficiency Workforce Optimization Initiative." Fox News Digital reached out to NASA to find out how many employees will be impacted by the office closures. Agencies are required by Thursday to report to the Office of Personnel Management about their plans to downsize their workforce, as announced last month by Trump and Elon Musk, the head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
The Hill
06-03-2025
- Politics
- The Hill
Secretary Collins: We owe America's veterans real solutions
The Department of Veterans Affairs has been a punching bag among veterans, Congress and the media for decades. Things need to change. We owe America's veterans — and hundreds of thousands of excellent VA employees — solutions. For many years, veterans have been asking for a more efficient, accountable and transparent VA. This administration is finally going to give veterans what they want. President Trump has a mandate to bring generational change to Washington, and that is exactly what we're going to deliver at VA. We are going to make the department work better for the veterans, families, caregivers and survivors we are charged with serving. Here's how: In response to Trump's Department of Government Efficiency Workforce Optimization Initiative, VA is conducting a department-wide review of its organization, operations and structure. Central to these efforts is a pragmatic and disciplined approach to eliminating waste and bureaucracy, increasing efficiency and improving health care, benefits and services to veterans. This will be a thorough and thoughtful review based on input from career VA employees and senior executives, as well as top department leaders. Our goal is to reduce VA employment levels to 2019 numbers of roughly 398,000 employees from our current level of approximately 470,000 employees — a nearly 15 percent decrease. We will accomplish this without making cuts to health care or benefits to veterans and VA beneficiaries. VA will always fulfill its duty to provide veterans, families, caregivers and survivors the health care and benefits they have earned. That is a promise. And while we conduct our review, the department will continue to hire for more than 300,000 mission-critical positions to ensure health care and benefits for VA beneficiaries are not affected. There are many people complaining about the changes we are making at VA. But what most of them are really saying is 'Keep doing the same thing VA has always done.' Nope. The days of kicking the can down the road and measuring VA's progress by how much money it spends and how many people it employs — rather than how many veterans it helps — are over. Here's just one example of the change we are bringing. We are conducting a comprehensive review of VA's 90,000 contracts, which total more than $67 billion. After reviewing roughly 2 percent of those contracts, we found almost 600 non-mission-critical or duplicative agreements that we will be cancelling, saving the department nearly $900 million. Just imagine how much we will be able to save after we complete our review of the remaining 88,000 VA contracts. The money we're saving by eliminating non-mission-critical or duplicative contracts is money we are going to redirect to veteran-facing health care, benefits and services, resulting in massive improvements in customer service and convenience. Improving services to veterans is exactly why VA exists. That is what everyone — Congress, the media and VA employees — should be focused on. There has been a lot of news coverage regarding recent layoffs at VA. We regret when anyone loses their job, and its extraordinarily difficult for department leaders to make those types of decisions. But the federal government does not exist to employ people. It exists to serve people. At VA, we are focused on serving veterans better than ever before, and doing so requires changing and improving the organization. VA was never perfect, and it will never be perfect. But we can and will make it better. When we find problems we will fix them, and we will communicate what we are doing to the public. But we will be making major changes. So get used to it. Right now, VA's biggest problem is that its bureaucracy and inefficiencies are getting in the way of customer convenience and service to veterans. As I said before: We owe America's veterans — and the hundreds of thousands of amazing VA employees — solutions. And mark my words, that is what we will deliver.
Yahoo
02-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
How many federal employees are there in Missouri and Illinois?
ST. LOUIS – As President Donald Trump's administration intensifies efforts to shrink the size of the federal workforce, thousands of federal employees across the country have been laid off or offered buyouts, posing a growing challenge for Missouri and Illinois. Trump's Executive Order 14210, Department of Government Efficiency Workforce Optimization Initiative, outlines a reform of the federal workforce. It warns agencies across the country to prepare for large-scale layoffs and prioritizes offices with functions not required by statute or law. The order includes all diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, along with any programs, components or operations suspended or closed by the Trump administration. It also applies to employees not designated as essential in contingency plans, with exceptions for public safety, immigration enforcement and law enforcement functions. These efforts could possibly affect more than 200,000 federal workers, though the exact number is unknown. In the St. Louis area, FOX 2 has also learned that some employees with the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency were offered buyouts, while the DOGE initiative says it has terminated leases or contracts of at least three federal agencies in the region. According to the Missouri Economic Research and Information Center, there were in Missouri as of January 2024. According to a Congressional Research Service report, the federal civilian workforce in Missouri consisted of as of March 2024. That was the 17th most among all U.S. states. According to a February 2025 news release from Gov. J.B. Pritzker, there are around in Illinois. According to a Congressional Research Service report, the federal civilian workforce in Illinois consisted of as of March 2024. That was the 13th most among all U.S. states. Tens of thousands of federal workers have reportedly departed their jobs since the executive order, while a memo issued Wednesday to federal agency leaders provided further guidance on conducting workforce reductions. The Internal Revenue Service, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and National Park Service are among agencies that have already dealt with effects from workforce cuts. It remains to be see how much deeper the federal workforce reductions could go. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
26-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
How many federal employees are there in Colorado?
DENVER (KDVR) — As President Donald Trump's administration intensifies efforts to shrink the size of the federal workforce, masses of federal employees are being laid off across the country, including hundreds in Colorado. Trump's Executive Order 14210, Department of Government Efficiency Workforce Optimization Initiative, outlines a reform of the federal workforce. It warns agencies across the country to prepare for large-scale layoffs and prioritizes offices with functions that are not mandated by statute or other law. The order includes all diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, all 'initiatives, components, or operations that my Administration suspends or closes' and all employees who are not typically designated as essential as provided in contingency plans. It also includes exceptions for functions related to public safety, immigration enforcement and law enforcement. 'Should not be happening': IRS workers in Denver let go in Trump administration's mass layoffs Thursday The Trump administration also announced buyouts for federal employees at the end of January, offering about eight months of salary for those who voluntarily left by Feb. 6. Thousands of Internal Revenue Service employees nationwide were laid off in late February, impacting over 100 people in Colorado. Additionally, some 3,400 U.S. Forest Service employees were laid off en masse earlier in February. It's unclear how many of those employees are from Colorado. Colorado is home to tens of thousands of federal employees. In a press release Tuesday, the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment said there are roughly 57,000 federal workers in Colorado. Colorado has the 16th most federal workers of any state, accounting for 1.8% of all federal civilian employees, according to a Congressional Research Service report from March 2024. District of Columbia 162,144 California 147,487 Virginia 144,483 Maryland 142,876 Texas 129,738 Florida 94,014 Georgia 79,686 Pennsylvania 66,079 Washington 56,772 Ohio 55,487 New York 53,600 North Carolina 51,013 Illinois 44,784 Oklahoma 41,867 Alabama 40,692 Colorado 39,910 How to contact your congressman or congresswoman if you live in Colorado On Tuesday, Gov. Jared Polis in a press release said that the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment and the Statewide Workforce System are prepared to support Coloradans who are impacted by the restructuring and job cuts. 'Together with the Statewide Workforce System and our Unemployment Insurance Division, we are prepared to help Colorado's skilled and competent federal workforce navigate any potential period of joblessness,' said CDLE Executive Director Joe Barela. 'CDLE is committed to supporting individuals with a variety of workforce development support to ensure all Coloradans can continue to thrive and prosper.' Florissant Fossil Beds to be closed two days a week The layoffs have already made an impact in Colorado, with the Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument announcing that it will be closed for two days each week due to short staffing. National parks cutting hours, services amid federal layoffs About 400 National Park Service workers took the federal buyout, and about 1,000 more were laid off, according to the National Parks Conservation Association. John Garder, a representative for the National Parks Conservation Association Government, told NewsNation that people should prepare to lower their standards when visiting national parks this year due to the layoffs. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
