Federal Freeze Act

The Federal Freeze Act halts most federal hiring and pay raises for one year, requiring agencies to maintain current workforce levels (based on pre-enactment staffing) and prohibiting increases in employee numbers or salaries. It mandates that agencies reduce their workforce by 2% within two years and 5% within three years, with exemptions for roles critical to national security, law enforcement, public safety, or disaster response. The law applies to all federal agencies and focuses on concrete staffing reductions rather than policy changes. It does not affect existing employees or exempt positions in the calculation of mandated cuts.