Pentagon moves to exempt some civilians from hiring freeze

Defense Secretary James Mattis has directed the Pentagon to exempt some civilian jobs from President Trump’s hiring freeze, with an eye toward positions that are critical to national security and public safety, according to a Pentagon memo released Thursday.

“This is an opportunity for the department to assess its most critical missions and requirements, ensuring that members of the civilian workforce are assigned and capable of executing the highest priority work,” the Pentagon said in a statement. “The [Department of Defense] guidance will help to accomplish this objective and ensure that resources are allocated in a manner that will promote effective and efficient use of taxpayer dollars.”

Last week, Trump signed an order freezing all federal hiring with the exception of military personnel. Exemptions can also be made for other jobs deemed necessary for national security or public safety.

{mosads}With the Pentagon’s civilian employees not explicitly exempted in the order, Democrats slammed the freeze as eroding the military readiness Trump has said he wants to restore.

Nineteen House Republicans also called Wednesday on Trump to exempt personnel involved in buying new weapons, though they commended Trump’s intention to reduce the size of the federal government.

According to the memo, written by acting Deputy Secretary of Defense Robert Work, Mattis has directed the service secretaries, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Pentagon’s inspector general, the deputy chief management officer for the Office of the Secretary of Defense, the Defense agencies and Defense Department field activities to decide which specific jobs to exempt from three overarching categories.

The first category is 16 groups identified by Mattis as necessary to meet national security or public safety responsibilities. The groups include positions directly supporting overseas missions, cybersecurity positions, jobs providing childcare for military personnel, positions involved in nuclear reactor and weapons safety, and jobs in shipyards and depots directly involved in inventory management and equipment maintenance.

The memo specifies that exemptions should be granted “only for positions deemed critical to the execution of the function listed” and says those requesting the exemptions “must be prepared to justify their exemption decisions on a position-by-position basis.”

The second category is jobs determined by the service secretaries, the deputy chief management officer, the inspector general and the Joint Chiefs chairman to be necessary but not included in the first category. The officials have to certify in writing that the positions are critical for national security or public safety.

The third category is seven groups for which exceptions are required by law, such as civilian employees who have the right to return to their jobs after returning from active duty or job placements directed by a court. But officials will still need to “be prepared to justify their exemption decision on a position-by-position basis.”

Other civilian positions, including political appointments and those who were offered a job before Trump’s order, are exempt without any formal request, the memo adds. Seasonal and temporary employees and transfers between federal departments are also exempt without a formal request but require advanced coordination with the Pentagon’s personnel office.

“I expect you to apply your best efforts to implement this hiring freeze,” Work wrote in the memo. “Our work will inform a government-wide effort to optimize the size of the federal civilian workforce and will best position the department to implement that plan for the long-term. We are in this together to advance our mission and strengthen our department and our nation.”