The Trump administration’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and Office of Personnel Management (OPM) went on a memo blitz Monday, sending at least three letters to federal agency leaders on directives stretching from return to office instructions to pausing federal grants, copies of the memos obtained by Fox News Digital show.
President Donald Trump’s administration already has issued a handful of directives aimed at federal agency heads since he took office Jan. 20, including ordering agency chiefs to shutter diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) offices, which was followed by another memo to begin terminating DEI chiefs.
On Monday, the OMB, an executive office that evaluates agency programs and handles the president’s budget, and OPM, an independent agency that serves as the federal government’s human resources department, issued memos on Monday to further move federal agencies in line with the president’s vision of government.
Return to office plans
A joint OMB and OPM memo sent Monday regarding return to office plans outlined that agency heads have until Feb. 7 to provide a plan on returning staff schedules to full-time in-person work.
Agencies must ‘prepare plans to expeditiously implement’ the memo and submit their plans ‘for review and approval by no later than Friday, February 7th at 5:00pm EST,’ the memo, obtained by Fox News Digital, states.
The directive, addressed to ‘heads of executive departments and agencies,’ detailed that agency chiefs must craft plans that include details such as how they will ‘revise telework agreements for all eligible employees,’ as well as ‘provide timelines for the return of all eligible employees to in-person work as expeditiously as possible, including the date that the agency will be in full compliance,’ and ‘describe agency’s process for determining exceptions based on disability, qualifying medical condition, and or other compelling reason.’
Both the acting director of OMB, Matthew J. Vaeth, and OPM acting director, Charles Ezell, issued the memo.
The directive comes after Trump railed against federal employees working from home years after the pandemic and social distancing mandates ended. On his first day in office, Trump issued a presidential action calling on federal agencies to terminate remote work.
Executive branch department and agency heads ‘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, provided that the department and agency heads shall make exemptions they deem necessary,’ the Jan. 20 presidential action read.
Pausing federal grants and loans in effort to end ‘wokeness’
The OMB issued another memo on Monday that pauses all federal grants and loans, out of an effort to end ”wokeness’ and the weaponization of government,’ and to promote ‘efficiency in government.’
‘Federal agencies must temporarily pauseall activities related to obligation or disbursement of all Federal financial assistance, and other relevant agency activities that may be implicated by the executive orders, including, but not limited to, financial assistance for foreign aid, nongovernmental organizations, DEI, woke gender ideology, and the green new deal,’ the memo, obtained by Fox Digital reads.
The pause takes effect at 5 p.m. ET on Tuesday.
The memo explained that out of the $10 trillion spent by the federal government in fiscal year 2024, $3 trillion was allocated to ‘federal financial assistance, such as grants and loans.’
