Federal Hiring Freeze Memorandum
On January 23, 2017, President Trump signed Memorandum 2017-01842 implementing a federal hiring freeze, halting new civilian federal employee hiring across executive branch agencies with limited exceptions for national security and public safety positions. The freeze immediately stopped agencies from filling vacant positions or creating new positions unless approved by the Office of Management and Budget. The direct impact was suspension of federal hiring across the government, affecting thousands of pending job offers and recruitment processes, while existing federal employees retained their positions.