Morning Briefing - January 22, 2025
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January 21, 2025

Trump orders hiring freeze; nixes remote work

By ExchangeMonitor

Among the flurry of executive orders President Donald Trump signed Monday after being sworn in are measures to implement a federal hiring freeze and telling government staff to return to in-person work.

“Heads of all departments and agencies in the executive branch of government shall, as soon as practicable, take all necessary steps to terminate remote work arrangements and require employees to return to work in-person at their respective duty stations on a full-time basis,” Trump said in announcing the latter order.

The remote work order did say shall agency brass “shall make exemptions they deem necessary.”

As for the hiring freeze, no federal civilian job vacant at noon on Jan. 20 may be filled,
“and no new position may be created except as otherwise provided for in this memorandum or other applicable law,” according to the document. The order does not cover openings in the military or national security and some other areas. The move is part of the Trump goal to curb the size of the federal government.

The order says the Office of Management and Budget and Office of Personnel Management must draft a report within 90 days to the so-called Department of Government Efficiency. The report will include a plan to reduce the size of government “through efficiency improvements and attrition.”  The order does not repeal any existing collective bargaining agreements.

The Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management did not respond by deadline Tuesday as to its current number of vacancies and remote workers. Recruiting new people to replace departing senior hands has been an ongoing concern for the nuclear cleanup office.

During the pandemic, Environmental Management and the National Nuclear Security Administration made maximum use of telework arrangements

The White House also issued an order seeking to weed out “diversity, equity, and inclusion” that the order deems “ illegal and immoral discrimination programs.”

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NEW: Via public records request, I’ve been able to confirm reporting today that a warrant has been issued for DOE deputy asst. secretary of spent fuel and waste disposition Sam Brinton for another luggage theft, this time at Las Vegas’s Harry Reid airport. (cc: @EMPublications)

DOE spent fuel lead Brinton accused of second luggage theft.



by @BenjaminSWeiss, confirming today's reports with warrant from Las Vegas Metro PD.

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We have finally begun emplacing defense-related transuranic (TRU) waste in Panel 8 of #WIPP.

Read more about the waste emplacement here: https://wipp.energy.gov/wipp_news_20221123-2.asp

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