OMB issues guidance on Reduction in Force layoffs due to partial shutdown

americanthinker ^ | Jan 16, 2019 | By Thomas Lifson

[11th_VA]

... A new statement from the Office of Management and Budget provides cold comfort for federal bureaucrats worried that furloughs during the partial shutdown could become permanent layoffs, as long as Democrats refuse to give in and fund the border barrier.

There will be no immediate layoffs (what the federal government calls reductions-in-force – or RIFs) if and when the current partial shutdown passes the 30 day mark in 4 more days. As I explained yesterday in Trump's shutdown trap?, federal law requires RIFs when federal employees are furloughed more than 30 days...

This emphatically does not rule out the shutdown trap hypothesis that I presented. ...

As the anonymous Senior Trump Administration official that I quoted yesterday noted, in the absence of bureaucrats with time on their hands and no inclination to help the Trump agenda, a lot is getting accomplished. As that process continues, after the 30-day mark is reached it will be possible to create a downsizing plan, identifying units that could easily get by with a fraction of their current staff, or even be reorganized out of existence.

The head of the OMB, Mick Mulvaney, currently does not have a lot of spare time, serving as head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and as interim White House Chief of Staff (a 24/7 job in its own right). But if he is on board (and why wouldn’t he be?), he could well designate a team to prepare quick plans for downsizing, now that the various agencies have seen how little they need so many of the furloughed bureaucrats. That would make the furloughs qualify for RIFs...

[TheZMan]

Ooooooh yummy. That’s going to be hilarious.

[bIlluminati]

... the 80% which does 5% of the work.

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So the 20% does the other 5% of the work?

[Tunehead54]

He should have waited about 7 days before posting his first piece on RIFs ...

[Vigilanteman]

Actually, the distribution is roughly 80-15-5. There is 15% which does roughly 15% of the work; 5% which does 80% and the pampered 80% of the drones which do 5%.

If you ever have time to observe the TSA in action at an airport, you'll find this true. The 80% drones do the distraction work of confiscating oversized shampoo bottles and knitting needles from grandmas while 5% (usually military veterans) are competent enough to do the real work of profiling without appearing to be profiling.

Some people would say I overestimate the work of the 5% of genuinely competent people in the TSA, but it is at least observable since I can't claim to know the difference between real and kabuki in that venue.

I was told that by a retired military guy in the TSA who was quite sharp, so begin to watch for myself on those occasions where I had plenty of time before the flight because traffic was lighter than expected, etc.