This bill freezes federal hiring and salary increases for one year, requiring agencies to maintain current staffing levels (based on employment as of enactment). After the initial freeze period, agencies must reduce staff by 2% within two years and by 5% within three years. The law applies to all federal agencies and their employees, with limited exceptions for appointments deemed critical to law enforcement, public safety, or national security. It directly changes personnel management by mandating specific workforce reductions and prohibiting pay raises.
The MERIT Act of 2025 makes significant changes to federal personnel management by repealing Chapter 43 performance-based actions and modifying procedures for disciplinary actions, furloughs, and bonus recoupment. It extends probationary periods for senior executives (to 2 years) and competitive service employees (to 2 years), establishes new rules for reducing retirement benefits of employees convicted of felonies related to their federal service, and creates standardized procedures for adverse actions including written notice requirements and response periods. The bill also allows agencies to recoup bonuses for misconduct and modifies procedures for handling furloughs of more than 14 days. These changes apply to all federal employees across government agencies and aim to clarify and streamline personnel management processes.
HR 697 (the "End the Deep State Act") creates a new "Schedule Policy/Career" for federal positions involving confidential, policy-making, or policy-advocating work that are not typically replaced during presidential transitions. Agencies must review their roles by 2025 to identify such positions for this streamlined hiring process, which bypasses standard competitive exams and reduces civil service protections for these roles. The bill revokes a 2021 executive order protecting federal workforce hiring practices and requires agencies to adjust appointment rules accordingly. This affects thousands of federal employees in policy-focused roles across executive agencies, shifting their classification from competitive hiring to a non-competitive, politically aligned appointment system.
The MERIT Act of 2025 makes significant changes to federal employee disciplinary procedures and personnel management. It repeals Section 4303 of Title 5 (which governed performance-based actions) and establishes a "preponderance of evidence" standard for disciplinary actions instead of the previous higher standard. The bill shortens response periods for employees from 14 to 7 business days, extends probationary periods for Senior Executive Service positions and competitive service positions from 1 year to 2 years, and adds provisions allowing agencies to recoup bonuses from employees with adverse findings or reduce annuities for employees convicted of felonies related to their job performance. These changes primarily affect federal employees, supervisors, and senior executives across the government.
S 357, the Federal Freeze Act, freezes federal hiring and pay for one year starting from its enactment date. It prohibits agencies from increasing their workforce beyond current levels (the "baseline number") or raising employee pay rates, with limited exceptions for law enforcement, public safety, national security, or declared disaster emergencies. After the initial freeze, agencies must reduce their workforce by 2% within two years and 5% within three years of enactment, while exempting employees deemed essential for the same security or emergency reasons. This directly affects all federal agencies and their hiring and compensation practices.
This bill requires most federal employees who regularly telework (at least one day weekly or 20% of work time under alternative schedules) to return to an office-based work arrangement. It excludes certain employees, including those with disabilities receiving accommodations, Foreign Service members, law enforcement officers, and active-duty military personnel. Covered employees will no longer receive annual pay adjustments under standard federal pay rules and must be paid at the "Rest of U.S." standard pay rate for their position grade and step, with no future adjustments to that rate. The changes take effect in the first full fiscal year after the bill becomes law.
This bill eliminates non-essential executive branch federal positions that would be subject to furlough during budget gaps. It automatically abolishes unoccupied positions on enactment day and occupied positions when they become vacant (e.g., due to retirement or separation). The law also prevents new positions from being designated as "excepted from furlough" and blocks funding for any abolished role after the effective date. It directly affects civil service employees in the executive branch whose roles are deemed non-essential under this standard.
This bill requires federal agencies to reduce their workforce to 90% of the 2025 level by fiscal year 2028, directly affecting all federal agencies and their employees (excluding political appointees). It mandates that agencies hire no more than one new employee for every three retirees or separations during 2026-2027, with strict monitoring to ensure compliance. Agencies exceeding their capped workforce must halt all new hiring, remote work approvals, and certain position changes until they meet the limit. The bill includes limited emergency waivers for national security or public safety crises but prohibits increasing service contracts or remote work arrangements as part of the reduction strategy.
This bill eliminates "official time" for federal employees, meaning they can no longer use regular work hours to perform union-related activities. It directly affects federal workers who are union members, requiring them to handle union business during non-duty time instead of paid work hours. The key provision amends Title 5 of the U.S. Code to change the rule governing union activities during work time. This is a procedural change to federal employment law, not a new policy affecting the public or specific industries.
The Federal Workforce Freedom Act (S 1006) prohibits federal employees from joining or participating in labor unions for collective bargaining and bans federal agencies from recognizing or negotiating with such unions. It terminates all existing collective bargaining agreements and dismisses any pending disputes based on those agreements. The bill repeals Chapter 71 of Title 5, U.S. Code, which currently governs federal labor relations. This legislation directly affects all federal employees and agencies by eliminating the legal framework for collective bargaining in the federal workforce.
