Some employees at the General Services Administration were told Tuesday that the department would be cutting staff and reducing its footprint across the country, underscoring the Trump administration’s determination to rapidly shrink the size of the federal work force.
In an email, Josh Gruenbaum, a Trump appointee who currently helps oversee the G.S.A.’s Federal Acquisition Service, told employees that the organization would be “cutting redundant business functions and associated staffing” and that the organization would not need workers in “certain areas of the country.”
He also noted that the Federal Acquisition Service, which aids other government agencies in dealing with office supplies, technology and travel needs, would consider utilizing artificial intelligence to reduce costs.
Mr. Gruenbaum’s warning came as roughly 2 million federal workers around the country face a looming deadline Thursday to decide whether to accept an offer to resign but be paid through the end of September. Already, tens of thousands of federal workers have submitted their plans to leave, Trump administration officials said Tuesday.
Union leaders have urged employees not to accept the offer, questioning its legality and legitimacy.
Across the government, federal workers have been bracing for news of how the Trump administration’s planned reductions will affect them as agency officials stressed their plans to cut costs.
“We’ll be looking at operations in every portfolio to strengthen our business and comply with the directive from the president to reduce the federal work force,” Mr. Gruenbaum wrote in the email, which was seen by The New York Times. “We can and must make tough decisions to create a leaner and more agile organization.”
The General Services Administration, which manages the federal government’s property portfolio, has about 12,000 workers across the country. On Monday, The Times reported that G.S.A. leaders have discussed eliminating as much as 50 percent of the agency’s budget.
Mr. Gruenbaum, whose LinkedIn profile identifies him as a former director at private equity firm KKR, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The G.S.A. did not respond to a request for comment.
In recent days, the Office of Personnel Management, the agency overseeing the resignation program, has tried to reassure workers about the legitimacy of the offer. On Tuesday, the agency issued a new memo that said that separation agreements would be legally binding, and that concerns about the legality of the program were “misplaced.” The agency has also circulated template contracts to federal agencies “to assuage any concerns about enforceability.”
On Tuesday, Mr. Gruenbaum encouraged recipients of the email to “seriously consider the current offer” for deferred resignations from the Office of Personnel Management.
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