The Trump administration has decided to lift its recently enacted hiring freeze, as federal agencies were complaining that the policy was too restrictive. The administration will replace the across-the-board freeze with a more targeted reduction in federal staffing levels. The Hill: "What we're doing tomorrow is replacing the across-the-board hiring freeze that was put in place on day one and replacing it with a smarter plan, a more strategic plan, a more surgical plan." Trump signed an executive order on his first full work day in the White House that temporarily halted all non-military federal hiring, an attempt to fulfill his campaign promise to "drain the swamp" and reduce the size of government.  But the freeze resulted in an increased backlog of benefits claims at the Veterans Affairs (VA) department, which Trump pledged to strengthen during the campaign.  It also created delays in the processing...(Read Full Post)