Disclaimer: I do not agree with decisions on either side of the isle, but Republicans will agree, MAGA is a "party" of its own right. So do not mistake my criticism - something you should be able to give a friend - of PDT as left-leaning. That all being said, I can't read minds, just actions, so I am speaking only allegedly in this article.
If you want to skip to how the National Park Service is affected, go to (***).
Trump's hiring freeze and immediate dissolve of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility unnecessarily burns taxpayer money. Waiting a week or two would have still served any goal to reappropriate federal funds away from DEI and allegedly “back into the pockets of Americans.” By not waiting a couple of weeks, affected government must undue and redo all of their recent hiring efforts, which trashes federal dollars and millions upon millions of federal jobs until the foreseeable future. Trump is not an idiot, so it appears his priority was to cut DEI, without regards to government efficiency, making it seem more about creating dysfunction than an effort to "reestablishing equality" or saving “taxpayer money” for the American people.
Trump's constituents, who feel government is wasting their money and are being unfairly discriminated against due to "quotas" in the job market, will not have more private sector jobs made available to them, nor federal jobs unless they already meet the very strict standard for them, nor be more represented in the government by the elimination of DEI. And it certainly does not mean that this money will be “put back in their pockets.” The DEI was there to provide pathways to individuals who may have limited work opportunities in the private and public sector; to provide a job for those with disabilities or a range of skills that might not otherwise seem transferable to a decent job. It was to ensure the inclusion of all people in this country for consideration - that a division couldn't be all men nor all woman nor all this or that. But, you're going to have a hard time learning more about it, given the webpages that have been taken down.
To obtain a federal job, no matter the pay, there is a good chance you cannot have a criminal background and must be drug-free. For higher paying positions, you can work your way up or have a degree of some sort. In other words, it already takes merit to get a federal job, no matter who you are. Even with DEI, it is highly competitive. Hiring for the federal service is not "interpretive" work, whereas private companies can discriminate at the very job listing; many keep false listings up, only picking those applicants who are over-qualified and paying them unviable wages with little security, creating the real poverty for the common citizen. So perhaps the real issue in the private market is not the “lack of jobs,” but the lack of transparency and selectiveness of private employers, and the lack of wage-control, benefits, and security, which I doubt you will see more of, given who was sitting front row of the inauguration. If equity the's goal, why not tax the rich to the same degree everyone else is taxed? But, that's a different conversation.
Because of the strict protocol for federal hiring, being a civil servant was one of the few ways you could trust your skills would be accounted for, and your future didn't hang in the balance of the most personally profitable choice for a CEO. Federal jobs demand your resume to be specific to ensure you got exactly what the job requires. To stand out and make sure you're not lying, you will likely need references, a cover letter, a portfolio, a master’s, or even a PhD. On top of that, you might be competing with hundreds of others for the same position.
Then comes the work of the hiring managers. They screen each and every applicant on an eligibility scale. Then months later, hundreds of people will be interviewed for the same position. They screen again and a few more months later, they will offer a very lucky someone a tentative job offer. This lucky someone will spend another two weeks filling out paperwork, getting certified, going to a fingerprint and/or drug test appointment, and packing their bags as they anticipate their official job offer. Finally, they think, their hard-earned and expensive degree will be put to good use, they will have security, affordable insurance, education or training, and an actual set-in-stone, clear-cut path for career advancement. Given the rigorous work ahead, this person is in this field to goof around and likely, the money isn’t all there for them to be greedy - rather, they’re doing it because the government is direct way to serve the land and the people. That’s why they’re called “civil servants.” So, bear in mind all of the time and resources put into the hiring process up to this point, and the fact this person is qualified, and will very likely remain the most qualified.
Then comes the hiring freeze, and their offer is on hold for potentially 90 days or outright rescinded. Months - or rather a lifetime - of hard work of this "everyday American” is wasted. The time and money that came out of your pocket - the taxpayer's money - to even screen these individuals, is all burnt to a crisp. Not only are past efforts disregarded, but the future of most functions in American society that rely on federal employees may suffer from a decreased budget, understaffing, and dysfunction as they interpret the Executive Order. Nonpartisan folks who do anything from manage your water to staffing campsites will be limited, potentially shutting down services temporarily. Those who worked in the very offices that administered DEI, with families and homes, may be jobless - 2.4 millions, to be exact.
***Let’s talk about the National Park Service and seasonal work, specifically. Seasonal workers are not rich politicians, but blue-collar workers who do the work for the love of doing it (for the sunsets, am I right?). However, seasonal work is a great way to get your foot in the door of a lifetime of federal service, offering stability down the line. Often, seasonal workers ask to be rehired and choose to stay at lower-level positions, as that’s how much they genuinely care for the work. So rest assured, in addition to offering free services to the public, from educational programs to amenities, and keeping parks safe and running, they are not there to waste anyone’s money.
In addition, the listings are all posted on a schedule, timed exactly so that hiring can be complete before the next season begins. Because of the competitiveness, the schedule creates transparency that makes hiring fair - since everyone knows when all of the listings will open, they can prepare their applications and avoid missing out before listings close/fill. Now, seasonal workers are supposed to be “exempt” from the freeze, but each park must submit a reason to OPM to reinstate hiring, and this “reasoning” is as limited as the requirements are vague. Also, OPM can decline and even if they don’t, it is still unclear if applications will resume or be relisted. If the latter, then the uncertain listing date may allow someone who is more qualified and previously selected to land behind someone less qualified. Even if they can move forward with their present selection, if this process resumes at the end of the 90-day hiring freeze, that will be at least two months past when these workers needed to be at these parks to have them operating at full capacity. If they are not able to move forward with present selections, park facilities may be partially closed throughout most, if not all of summer. Not to mention, due to the remoteness of these parks or the high-pay of any apartments nearby, park housing is provided, which means many seasonals will be jobless and potentially homeless because of this freeze.
Keep in mind, there are 63 National Parks, encompassing 433 national park sites in the United States. Overall, they hire about 7,500 seasonal workers, and each job listing had anywhere from 50-1,000 applicants. As non-political as one would think the NPS is, with the initiative to “drill drill drill” and another executive order to rename Mount Denali to "Mount McKinley" to prevent the “rewriting of history” (completely dismissing the native origins of the name, the founders of the park wanting it to be "Denali," and President McKinley having no connection to the mountain beforehand), respect for the parks hangs in a fragile balance. Meanwhile, the job market does not improve, at all, for Americans.***
It cannot be denied that the timing of this hiring freeze first and foremost wastes federal spending, eliminates jobs, and decreases government efficiency, because if it was simply to improve your life, it could've and should've waited, and other initiatives should’ve taken priority. People can spew hatred for government all they want, but Trump is part of government. If anything, you or people like you could've been part of government, but instead, you'll likely continue to struggle, because those civil servants who do care about you (because they have been in your exact shoes, unlike Trump) may no longer be able to serve you.
If you’re worried about corruption or transparency, keep in mind, creating executive order upon order to deregulate in a way that creates ambiguity, dysfunction, and provides no supplemental guidance, does not get rid of rules - it get’s rid of rules that are in writing, and will allow rules unwritten, untraceable, unseen and unheard of to the public to prevail. This is example A: It wasn’t advertised that this would be a severe consequence of such a swift move. Yet again, any money "saved" has already been lost twofold by this "subtle" action. Here's a question for you: Going back to my point about "taxing the rich," given how terribly managed this situation is, why would you or I ever choose to reappropriate our taxpayer money to a new and already failing Department of Government Efficiency, run by multi-billionaires, nonetheless? It makes perfect sense that the same people who ruined private job hiring have now ruined federal job hiring, because what do billionaires care about? Having billions of dollars. You know what doesn't give them billions of dollars? Giving everyone else the jobs and livelihoods that they deserve. Because the more they pay the rest of us, the less money they get, except now that money is not from any good or service that they provide, it's just directly from the Bank Account of America.