People gathered atop Cadillac Mountain in Acadia National Park are silhouetted by the setting sun in October 2022. A federal hiring freeze will delay filling over 100 seasonal positions at the park. Shawn Patrick Ouellette/Portland Press Herald

A federal hiring freeze and other executive orders issued by President Donald Trump have cast a pall of uncertainty and worry over many of the 11,000 U.S. government workers in Maine.

In addition to a three-month hiring freeze that will delay filling 120 seasonal positions at Acadia National Park, the incoming administration also ordered all remote federal staff to return to work in person and eliminated all federal diversity, equity and inclusion programs and positions.

On Tuesday, the Trump administration began offering buyouts with eight months’ pay to all federal workers who choose to leave their jobs by next Thursday.

It’s unclear exactly how many of the 2.3 million civilian federal employees have been impacted by the executive orders so far or will be eliminated by the administration’s promised plan to cut more government jobs in the months ahead.

While the freeze order stipulates that it won’t “adversely impact” access to Social Security, Medicare and veterans’ benefits, the lack of transparency led Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, to send a letter to the president on Tuesday urging him to grant a full exemption to all Department of Veterans Affairs personnel.

“Without a broad exemption, I worry that any hiring freeze would hurt access to veterans’ benefits, including health care,” King said in the letter. “Our veterans deserve access to the best quality health care, the benefits they earned, and someone to answer the phone when they call for help.”

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King noted that Acting VA Secretary Todd Hunter recently said more than 300,000 VA health care positions will be considered essential and exempt from the freeze.

However, the VA reported last year that it had more than 400,000 employees “after an unprecedented hiring surge,” according to the agency’s website. “We are better prepared than ever before to meet the needs of veterans who rely on us for care.”

Concerned that many nonmedical positions may be at risk, King listed several he said are necessary to provide services at Togus VA Medical Center near Augusta and other VA clinics across Maine, including support staff who schedule appointments, address IT issues and process disability claims.

He urged the president to “ensure that all positions within the VA are considered as essential, so that we can continue to hire dedicated employees to serve and care for our veterans.”

Jason Carter, spokesperson for VA Maine and Togus VA Medical Center, declined to discuss the impact of the executive orders and forwarded an inquiry to the public affairs team at the VA New England Healthcare System.

“We have not experienced any negative impact on hospital performance as a result of the hiring freeze because of the targeted hiring-freeze exemptions VA announced last week,” the VA responded.

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Regarding the in-person order, the VA responded that most of their Maine employees “typically do not work remotely and will not be impacted by VA’s efforts to end remote work.”

Amanda Pollock, spokesperson for Acadia National Park, also declined to discuss the orders and forwarded the newspaper’s inquiry to the Washington office of the National Park Service. That agency did not respond.

‘CAUTIOUSLY CONCERNED’ 

The park service has rescinded as many as 1,400 job offers for seasonal workers nationwide in the wake of freeze, according to news reports, raising apprehension among Bar Harbor officials and business owners who are already preparing for the coming tourist season. They recognize the symbiotic relationship between the park and the local economy and the shared challenges they face in a tight labor market.

“I would say we’re cautiously concerned,” said Everal Eaton, executive director of the Bar Harbor Chamber of Commerce. “Now is when a lot of our employers are lining up their staff, and park staffing is an important part of the visitor experience.”

Eaton said the park has been affected by the hiring freeze, the in-person work order and the DEI order.

“They are hopeful that after the three-month freeze, they’ll be able to operate as normal,” Eaton said. “But right now we just don’t know, so we’re in a waiting game as well.”

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Rep. Chellie Pingree, D-1st District, called the executive orders reckless for instilling a sense of fear and uncertainty over unknown impacts. She said she and her team are monitoring the situation closely to help constituents navigate the fallout.

“These directives appear to be less about improving government operations and more about eliminating employees, dismantling the civil service (and) undermining the expertise and dedication of federal workers who are critical to the success of our federal agencies,” Pingree said in a statement.

“From veterans services to staffing at Acadia National Park, these mandates could lead to significant disruptions,” Pingree said. “Many Mainers work for the federal government, and their expertise and dedication have long been integral to serving our communities. The loss of these talented individuals would not only weaken federal agencies but also harm the people who rely on their work.”

EXACERBATING LABOR SHORTAGES 

Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, also expressed concern about the impact of the hiring freeze in a tight labor market.

“It is critical that the federal government efficiently provides Mainers with the programs and services they need,” Collins said in a statement. “Staffing shortages remain a problem in some federal agencies in Maine, raising valid concerns that a broad hiring freeze has the potential to exacerbate an already challenging situation for some agencies and programs.”

Collins said she is seeking more information from the new administration on how the orders will be implemented without interrupting essential programs and services while also streamlining and improving how agencies operate. She also has long advocated for a return to in-person work for most federal jobs.

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“While telework may make sense for some jobs, including bill paying and cybersecurity, I welcome a return to the office or worksite for federal workers who interface directly with Mainers,” she said.

Rep. Jared Golden, D-2nd District, also is seeking more information about the executive orders, said spokesperson Mario Moretto.

“There are still a lot of unanswered questions about exactly what roles are subject to this presidential action and how they are being assessed during the 90-day freeze,” Moretto said in a statement.

Golden recognizes the valuable services that federal employees provide to Mainers, including to veterans, Moretto said. “(He) also knows what it means to serve in the armed forces and doesn’t want to see any veteran lose access to the benefits they have earned,” Moretto said.

TRUMP’S ORDERS AND NEXT STEPS

When he took office Jan. 20, Trump froze all federal civilian positions for three months, when no vacant jobs may be filled and no new positions may be created regardless of funding source. Explicitly excluded from the order are military positions, presidential appointments and jobs related to immigration enforcement, national security or public safety.

Within 90 days, or by April 20, the director of the Office of Management and Budget must submit “a plan to reduce the size of the federal government’s workforce through efficiency improvements and attrition.” The plan will be developed in consultation with the personnel management director and Elon Musk, administrator of the newly created U.S. Department of Government Efficiency Service, the order states.

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When the OMB issues its plan, the hiring freeze will expire for all departments and agencies – except the Internal Revenue Service. The order will remain in effect for the IRS until Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent “determines that it is in the national interest to lift the freeze,” again in consultation with the OMB director and Musk.

The order states that it doesn’t apply when it would conflict with other laws, including collective bargaining agreements.

In a separate action, Trump ordered agency and department heads to terminate remote work arrangements “as soon as practicable” and require employees to return to work in person on a full-time basis. The order stipulates that “department and agency heads shall make exemptions they deem necessary” and apply the in-person requirement consistent with other laws.

Trump also ordered the termination within 60 days of all diversity, equity, inclusion and environmental justice programs, positions, mandates, policies, preferences, activities, action plans and equity-related grants and contracts in the federal government. The administration will then review and revise existing federal employment practices, union contracts and training policies or programs.

Targeting DEI programs undermines civil service hiring rules, according to the American Federation of Government Employees, which represents 750,000 federal employees, including about 726 union members in Maine who work for the VA, National Park Service, Transportation Security Administration, Social Security Administration, Department of Defense, Bureau of Prisons and Border Patrol.

“The federal government has the lowest gender and racial pay gaps of all employers, precisely because employment decisions are made based on one’s ability to do the work and not on where they went to school or who they supported in the last election,” union President Everett Kelley said in a statement. “Undoing these programs is just another way for President Trump to undermine the merit-based civil service and turn federal hiring and firing decisions into loyalty tests.”

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