By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com
President Donald Trump’s call for a hiring freeze has caused alarm in federal agencies like the FBI, Justice Department and Homeland Security.
During Trump’s announcement Monday, he said the military won’t be impacted by the hiring freeze that began Monday, the Sacramento Bee reports.
Members of Congress want more information about the impact of the hiring freeze, which could mean far fewer FBI agents and Justice Department attorneys.
“This is a very complex government and you want to be really careful with your edicts because chances are they’re going to come back and bite you if you’re not careful,” said Rep. John Garamendi, D-Walnut Grove.
“We’re going to stop hiring. Really? What about TSA? What about the Border Patrol? What about the guy doing cybersecurity for the Justice Department?” he asked.
Republican Rep. Tom McClintock supports the order but cautioned against blanket hiring freeze.
“I applaud President Trump’s determination to pare back the federal government,” McClintock wrote in a statement to The Sacramento Bee. “The plan’s success, though, rests in redesigning the service delivery systems, eliminating unnecessary agencies and reforming the direct spending programs. Otherwise, you run the risk of shorting manpower in your top priority functions while continuing over-staffing of low priority or unnecessary agencies.”
