America is a different country today. With the presidential election come and gone, and only 71 days until Donald Trump begins his first term as Commander-in-Chief, many across the country are bracing themselves for an inevitable change. Politics aside, there are several proposed initiatives stated by Trump during his campaign that will affect government employees across the board.
Federal Hiring
Throughout Trump’s campaign, and even in his 100-day action plan for his term in office, Trump has emphasized that one of his first orders of business will be implementing a hiring freeze “on all federal employees to reduce the federal workforce through attrition.” There would be an exemption for those in the military, public safety and public health, according to the action plan.
According to Trump, the goal is to “reduce the size of the federal bureaucracy through responsible workforce attrition — that is, when employees retire, they can be replaced by a smaller number of new employees,” he said.
Cybersecurity
Trump’s cybersecurity plan involves creating a “team of the best military, civilian and private sector cybersecurity experts to comprehensively review all of our cybersecurity systems and technology.”
As part of Trump’s efforts to restore national security, one of his priorities includes “protect[ing] our vital infrastructure from cyber-attack,” according to his action plan. However, he did not provide specifics on how that issue would be addressed.
Military and Funding
Trump has pledged many times to reverse the Budget Control Act and “increase the size of the U.S. Army to 540,000 active duty soldiers, rebuild the U.S. Navy toward a goal of 350 ships, provide the U.S. Air Force with the 1,200 fighter aircraft they need, and grow the U.S. Marine Corps to 36 battalions,” as stated on his website.
According to a Trump campaign staff member, “Mr. Trump will ask Congress to fully eliminate the defense sequester and will submit a new budget to rebuild our military,” CNN reported.
While the Budget Control Act of 2011 ensures a decrease in military operations and spending, Trump is determined to stop the defense sequester and bolster the military budget.
Federal Spending
Every agency must “provide a list of wasteful spending projects that we can eliminate in my first 100 days,” Trump said in his RNC speech.
Trump’s stance on cutting federal spending can be seen as an extension of cutting federal employees he sees as unfit for the position. It’s unclear what exactly his plan would mean for government agencies, other than a general downsizing across the board.
Lobbying Rules
As part of his contract to the American people, Trump said he plans to place “a five-year ban on White House and congressional officials becoming lobbyists after they leave government service.”
In 2009, President Obama tightened restrictions on post-congressional lobbying, enforcing that “all appointees who are senior officials subject to the statutory one-year cooling off period on lobbying and advocacy communications to their former agencies must now abide by such cooling off period for two years.”
Under Trump, any congressional or White House employee who leaves their position cannot find work in a lobbying position for five years. The change is meant to “clean up the corruption and special interest collusion in Washington, D.C.,” according to his plan, and will surely affect many federal employees looking to change careers after this election.