Trump to sign order to potentially toss entire agencies — while reducing federal work force to ‘essential’ jobs only

WASHINGTON — President Trump is set to sign an order Tuesday instructing the Department of Government Efficiency to potentially toss entire federal agencies — and hire only one federal worker to replace every four who leave.

DOGE will ask agency heads to coordinate with the team being lead by Elon Musk and “shrink the size of the federal workforce and limit hiring to essential positions,” according to a fact sheet on the executive order obtained by The Post.

Entire agencies and part of agencies may be eliminated because their functions aren’t required by law, says the readout, first obtained by Semafor.

Personnel relating to national security, public safety, law enforcement and immigration enforcement are exempt from the order.

President Trump is expected to sign a DOGE order Tuesday to try to limit the federal work force. Getty Images

Trump implemented a hiring freeze as soon as he took office Jan. 20 on all civilian federal jobs and instructed DOGE and the director of the Office of Management and Budget to come up with a plan in 90 days to reduce the size of the government.

Upon the expiration of that job freeze, the fact sheet states, “Agencies will be able to hire no more than one employee for every four employees that depart from federal service (with appropriate immigration, law enforcement, and public safety exceptions).”

Tech billionaire Elon Musk is heading Trump’s DOGE initiative. AP

A worker removes the US Agency for International Development sign on its in Washington, DC, last week. Getty Images

The president has spoken about reducing the size of government to lower federal spending and debt, as well as the overall regulatory reach of the executive branch.

There are currently more than 400 agencies and sub-agencies in the federal government, the fact sheet said, noting that the sheer amount of federal workers led to $300 billion in salary spending in 2022, excluding pensions.

Trump has already gutted the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and directed federal workers to return to work in person and agencies to give buyouts to many federal employees.