President Donald Trump focused on the federal workforce as he signed executive orders in the hours after the inauguration.

The mandates end remote work arrangements, implement a federal hiring freeze, and order the termination of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs.

The President ordered DEI staff be put on paid leave this week.

“Broadly what the theme of all of this is aimed at reducing the size of the federal government,” said Ruark Hotopp, national vice president of the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) District 8. “Around DEI specifically, we’re not really sure how many people it impacts because the agencies themselves aren’t really sure how to implement the executive order.”

AFGE District 8 represents more than 19,000 workers in Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota. Members include Social Security, USDA, TSA, Border Patrol and Department of Education employees.

“What we saw from OPM, they sent out a blanket email to all federal agencies saying if you engaged in renaming these [DEI] departments, we’re going to find you and we’re going to fire you,” said Hotopp. “They set up an entire mailbox around DEI where they want employees reporting on one another.”

He described the challenges with each mandate. Hotopp explained telework, which allows employees to split their work week between the office and home, is built into collective bargaining agreements.

“They have reduced the size of their physical footprint because so many people have been teleworking or working remote,” he said of some departments. “So there isn’t going to be a physical space for them to go back to.”

According to Hotopp, the hiring freeze will also put pressure on a stressed workforce.

“We were already understaffed and now we’re going to have a hiring freeze which is going to lead to more understaffing and if we’re terminating all of the probationary employees, it’s going to lead to more understaffing,” he said. “We’re kind of bracing for what this is going to look like but yeah morale is not high.”

Senator Tina Smith warned on the social media platform X on Wednesday the hiring freeze could affect the Minneapolis VA hospital.

“I don’t know what they’re trying to accomplish here to tell you the truth,” said Smith. “We started to hear from veterans and doctors and nurses and other providers at the Minneapolis VA, they were really worried because this was going to result in having to take back or rescind or freeze job offers for dozens of people.”

The Department of Veterans Affairs later announced several exemptions to the policy.

In a statement, the agency said, “These exemptions clarify the department’s ability to continue filling essential positions that provide health care and other vital services to Veterans and VA beneficiaries.”

“Under President Trump’s leadership, VA will always do what is necessary to provide America’s Veterans with the benefits and services they have earned. The targeted hiring-freeze exemptions announced today underscore that fact,” said VA Director of Media Affairs Morgan Ackley. 

Smith said, however, there continues to be uncertainty on Thursday.

“We knew that there were 83 final and tentative offers that were sort of frozen or had to be pulled back,” said Smith. “But we don’t know whether some of those people were being hired for jobs that aren’t on this new list that came out.”

“Our union completely denounces President Trump’s Executive Orders that directly attack, undermine, and harm millions of federal workers and the critical services they provide every community across America,” said AFSCME Council 5 Executive Director Bart Andersen. According to the union, it doesn’t directly represent federal workers but members are employed in workplaces that receive federal money.