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Congress·In Committee·H.R. 1511

Congress Proposes 20% Cut to Federal Workforce by Limiting New Hires and Merging Departments

REDUCE Act

about 1 year ago·View on Congress.gov·Read full text
Part of: Congress Moves to Study Impact of Federal Layoffs on Local Budgets
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Stalled

No legislative action in over 90 days.

Legislative Progress

House
Senate
President
Law

Key Points

  • This bill, introduced in Congress, aims to shrink the federal government's workforce by 20%. Every agency would have 30 days to review their staff and tell Congress which jobs are unnecessary or repeat what other people are already doing.

    From policy text

    “Not later than 30 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the head of each agency of the executive branch of the Federal Government shall review each position within such agency and submit a report to Congress on which such positions are redundant and unnecessary.”
    View in full text
  • To lower the number of employees, agencies would face a strict hiring limit. For every four people who leave their jobs through retirement or quitting, the agency could only hire one new person to take their place.

    From policy text

    “the head of each such agency may appoint no more than 1 employee for every 4 employees of the agency retiring, transferring, or otherwise separating from the agency after the date of the enactment of this Act.”
    View in full text
  • Agency leaders would be required to come up with plans to shut down certain departments or merge them together. This process would continue until the agency has 20% fewer employees than it does right now.

    From policy text

    “The head of each such agency shall determine which agency components should be eliminated or combined with another component, and establish a plan to so eliminate or combine (as the case may be) such components under a reduction in force or through a reorganization.”
    View in full text
  • Some jobs are protected from these cuts. Positions that are vital for national security, police work, public safety, or border and immigration enforcement would not have to follow these new hiring rules.

    From policy text

    “This section shall not apply to any position or agency component that is critical to national security, public safety, law enforcement, or immigration enforcement, as determined by the head of each executive branch agency.”
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Labor EmploymentEconomy Finance

Impact Analysis

Personal Impact

Scores: 1 = low, 5 = highSentiment: -5 to +5 (net benefit)

State Impacts

Scores: 1 = low, 5 = highSentiment: -5 to +5 (net benefit)

Milestones

2 milestones2 actions
Feb 21, 2025House

Referred to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.

Feb 21, 2025

Introduced in House

What Happens Next

Projected impacts based on AI analysis

30 days after enactment

Every federal agency must review all positions and report redundancies to Congress

Within 30 days of becoming law, agency leaders would have to tell Congress which jobs they think are unnecessary — the first step toward potential layoffs and restructuring.

Upon enactment

4-to-1 hiring restriction begins immediately

As soon as the bill becomes law, agencies can only hire 1 person for every 4 who leave. Federal job seekers would see dramatically fewer openings, and existing employees would take on heavier workloads.

Source Information

Document Type

Congressional Bill

Official Title

REDUCE Act

Bill NumberHR 1511
Congress119th Congress
ChamberHouse of Representatives
Latest ActionReferred to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.
Read Full Bill Text

Sponsor

Cosponsors

(1)
R: 1

Analysis generated by AI. Always verify with official sources.