The Wrap: RIF Tide Running Higher; MSPB Blocking Some Layoffs; PIVOTT Bill Sheds Democrats
Welcome to The Wrap for Wednesday, February 26!
From the newsroom at MeriTalk, it’s the quickest read in Federal tech news. Here’s what you need to know today:
RIF Tide Running Higher
The Trump administration has already pulled about 100,000 workers from the Federal government through layoffs and deferred resignations, and is gearing up to swell that total much higher through RIF and Reorganization plans for which agencies have been given a March 13 deadline to deliver. That was the news today from an Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and Office of Personnel Management (OPM) memo that told most civilian Federal agencies today to get their RIF and Reorg plans in, and provided top-level guidance along with some agency carve-outs. The plans should have in their top five goals : “significant reduction” in full-time employees; better service for the American people; increased productivity; reduced real property footprints; and lower budget toplines. Who’s not covered? As with other recent White House orders, the RIF and Reorg effort is not touching the military, law enforcement, border security, national security, immigration enforcement, public safety responsibilities; Coast Guard; NOAA; and the U.S. Postal Service. The memo features an additional carve-out for agencies that provide “digital services to citizens” – including the Social Security Administration, Medicare, and veterans’ health care. They may not be spared layoffs, but OMB and OPM are instructing those agencies to “not implement any proposed ARRPs until OMB and OPM certify that the plans will have a positive effect on the delivery of such services.” Please do click through for the whole story.
MSPB Blocking Some Layoffs
While the administration gears up for more layoffs, the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) is throwing sand in the gears of the headcount-cut campaign by granting a stay on the firing of some Federal workers who were cut during their probationary periods by the Trump administration, and ?after the firings were appealed by the Office of Special Counsel (OSC).?The MSPB action came in response to the firing of six probationary employees across several executive branch agencies, which resulted in a request to stay the layoffs for 45 days by Hampton Dellinger, who heads OSC. His office argued that the firings were likely unlawful and recommended that they be halted pending an investigation. MSPB agreed, stating there are “reasonable grounds” to believe the firings were illegal and the stay would be issued?“while OSC further investigates their complaints.” Dellinger said in a?statement, “Since the Civil Service Reform Act was passed in 1978, the merit system principles have guided how federal government agencies hire, manage, and, if necessary, remove federal employees.” He added, “Firing probationary employees without individualized cause appears contrary to a reasonable reading of the law, particularly the provisions establishing rules for reductions in force.”
PIVOTT Bill Sheds Democrats
Democratic members of the House Homeland Security Committee said today they are pulling their support for legislation that aims to build the cybersecurity workforce, citing their opposition to widespread Federal employee layoffs being instituted by the Trump administration.?During a markup session today, committee members debated the merits of the Providing Individuals Various Opportunities for Technical Training to Build a Skills-Based Cyber Workforce Act of 2025 (Cyber PIVOTT Act), with Republicans stressing the importance of passing the legislation to bolster national security, and Democrats arguing that the bill would produce little benefit in light of the Federal layoffs.?The Cyber PIVOTT Act, which was first?introduced?during the last Congress by committee Chairman Mark Green, R-Tenn., would create a cybersecurity training program to provide Federal scholarship support in exchange for two years of service with governments at all levels in cybersecurity roles. The bill had previously enjoyed some bipartisan support on the committee, but faced strong pushback from Democratic committee members today, with committee ranking member Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., saying he could no longer support the measure, while calling it a “bait and switch at best.” He explained, “Democrats don’t want to trick community college students in need, thinking that there will be a Federal cyber job waiting for them after graduation, and that’s what this bill amounts to with Trump in office.”
New Research: Software Innovation Ascendant
Federal government technology officials are predicting a renaissance in software development innovation over the next four years with gains driven by the use of AI-assisted development, open source software, and cloud-native development. That’s one of the top-line findings from new research published today by MeriTalk and ICF – “Federal Software Reimagined: Fueling Mission Success with Open Source, AI, and Cloud .” The report surveys 100 Federal government civilian agency IT decision-makers, and finds that the crucial roles of AI, open source, and cloud-native drivers in software innovation received nearly unanimous endorsement from the Federal officials surveyed in the research report. On top of that, 71 percent envision that the Trump administration will be instrumental in ushering in a new era of innovation for software development. Notably, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) created by President Trump has the stated mission of “modernizing Federal technology and software to maximize governmental efficiency and productivity.” And those findings just scratch the surface of the results from the “Federal Software Reimagined: Fueling Mission Success with Open Source, AI, and Cloud” report. The new?report is available for download?today.
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Once again, let’s “call IT a day,” but we'll bring you more tomorrow. Until then, please check the MeriTalk breaking news website throughout the day for the latest on government IT people, progress, and policy.
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