PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.Referred to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.
Congressional Research Service
Version 00 · Introduced in House · Feb 21, 2025
Reducing Expensive Departments & Unnecessary Civil Employees Act or the REDUCE Act
This bill limits federal hiring and requires each federal agency to establish plans to eliminate or combine components of the agency. The bill does not apply to positions or agency components that are critical to national security, public safety, law enforcement, or immigration enforcement.
Specifically, a federal agency may not appoint more than one employee for every four employees that retire, transfer, or separate from such agency. This limitation does not apply after the agency has reduced the number of its employees by 20%.
The bill also requires each agency to determine which agency components should be eliminated or combined and develop a plan to bring this into effect through reorganization or reduction in force.
Each agency must conduct a review of each position within the agency to identify positions that are redundant or unnecessary and report the results of this review to Congress.
People & committees
Rep. Van Duyne, Beth [R-TX-24] · R–TX
Legislative record
A procedural vote is different from passage. Passage in one chamber does not establish enactment. Explore the glossary.
Referred to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Primary sources
Text links open the official source. We also preserved the text version used in the PlainBill explanation below.
No related bills are listed in this snapshot. This does not establish whether the proposal has appeared in earlier Congresses.
Source last updated: Mar 4, 2026. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
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PlainBill explanation
Based on the full Introduced in House · 2025-02-21 text. This explanation has not received human editorial review. This overview describes the proposal’s major provisions; it does not establish what its real-world effects would be.
The proposed REDUCE Act would require executive branch agencies to review their jobs for redundancy and identify components to eliminate or combine. It would generally limit hiring to one employee for every four departures until an agency’s workforce reaches 80% or less of its size at enactment. Positions and components that agency heads determine are critical to national security, public safety, law enforcement or immigration enforcement would be exempt.
This Act may be cited as the Reducing Expensive Departments & Unnecessary Civil Employees Act or the REDUCE Act.
the head of each agency of the executive branch of the Federal Government shall review each position within such agency and submit a report to Congress on which such positions are redundant and unnecessary.
the head of each such agency may appoint no more than 1 employee for every 4 employees of the agency retiring, transferring, or otherwise separating from the agency after the date of the enactment of this Act.
The limitation in paragraph (1) shall apply until the date that the total number of employees at an executive branch agency is equal to or less than 80 percent of the total number of such employees at such agency on the date of the enactment of this Act.
The head of each such agency shall determine which agency components should be eliminated or combined with another component, and establish a plan to so eliminate or combine
This section shall not apply to any position or agency component that is critical to national security, public safety, law enforcement, or immigration enforcement, as determined by the head of each executive branch agency.
Within 30 days after enactment, each executive branch agency head would have to review every position and report to Congress which positions are redundant and unnecessary, subject to the section’s exceptions.
Not later than 30 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the head of each agency of the executive branch of the Federal Government shall review each position within such agency and submit a report to Congress on which such positions are redundant and unnecessary.
This section shall not apply to any position or agency component that is critical to national security, public safety, law enforcement, or immigration enforcement, as determined by the head of each executive branch agency.
Subject to the section’s exceptions, agency heads could appoint at most one employee for every four employees who retire, transfer or otherwise leave the agency after enactment. The bill says this limit would apply despite other laws.
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the head of each such agency may appoint no more than 1 employee for every 4 employees of the agency retiring, transferring, or otherwise separating from the agency after the date of the enactment of this Act.
This section shall not apply to any position or agency component that is critical to national security, public safety, law enforcement, or immigration enforcement, as determined by the head of each executive branch agency.
The hiring limit would end for an agency when its total employee count reaches 80% or less of its count on the enactment date—a reduction of at least 20%. The provision sets a staffing threshold rather than a calendar end date.
The limitation in paragraph (1) shall apply until the date that the total number of employees at an executive branch agency is equal to or less than 80 percent of the total number of such employees at such agency on the date of the enactment of this Act.
Agency heads would have to identify agency units to eliminate or combine and prepare a plan using a reduction in force—a workforce reduction—or a reorganization. This requirement would be subject to the section’s exceptions.
The head of each such agency shall determine which agency components should be eliminated or combined with another component, and establish a plan to so eliminate or combine (as the case may be) such components under a reduction in force or through a reorganization.
This section shall not apply to any position or agency component that is critical to national security, public safety, law enforcement, or immigration enforcement, as determined by the head of each executive branch agency.
The exception would cover all requirements in section 2, including the review, hiring limit and planning requirement. Each agency head would determine which positions or components are critical to national security, public safety, law enforcement or immigration enforcement.
2. Review of redundant agency activities and positions; limitation on hiring; agency plans for RIF or reorganization
This section shall not apply to any position or agency component that is critical to national security, public safety, law enforcement, or immigration enforcement, as determined by the head of each executive branch agency.
The supplied actions snapshot, updated March 4, 2026, records introduction in the House and referral to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform on February 21, 2025.
Source snapshot updated 2026-03-04T18:56:32Z. 2025-02-21: Referred to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. 2025-02-21: Introduced in House
A closer look
Reviewed version: Introduced in House · 2025-02-21. These findings describe provisions and who may benefit; they are not judgments of waste, corruption, or motive.
This review covers the supplied bill text. “None identified” does not rule out provisions in later versions or accompanying reports and disclosures.
Provisions outside the bill’s main subject, or policy changes attached to appropriations.
None identified in the reviewed text
No unrelated provision or policy change attached to appropriations was identified after reviewing the complete supplied introduced text. This conclusion is limited to that version and does not establish absence in other versions or accompanying materials.
Spending directed to particular recipients or places outside ordinary competitive or formula-based allocation.
None identified in the reviewed text
No earmark was identified after reviewing the complete supplied introduced text. This conclusion is limited to that version and does not establish absence in other versions or accompanying materials. Member requests, disclosures, and committee or conference materials were not supplied.
Narrow exceptions, exemptions, or preferential treatment that warrant a closer look.
Findings to examine
A special exemption is identified in the supplied introduced text. This classification describes differential treatment and does not imply an improper purpose.
Positions and agency components that agency heads determine are critical to national security, public safety, law enforcement or immigration enforcement would receive an exemption from section 2’s review and reporting requirements, hiring limit, and elimination or consolidation planning requirement. This is a targeted carve-out for designated critical functions within the bill’s main workforce policy; its actual scope would depend on agency-head determinations.
This section shall not apply to any position or agency component that is critical to national security, public safety, law enforcement, or immigration enforcement, as determined by the head of each executive branch agency.
Not later than 30 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the head of each agency of the executive branch of the Federal Government shall review each position within such agency and submit a report to Congress on which such positions are redundant and unnecessary.
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the head of each such agency may appoint no more than 1 employee for every 4 employees of the agency retiring, transferring, or otherwise separating from the agency after the date of the enactment of this Act.
The head of each such agency shall determine which agency components should be eliminated or combined with another component, and establish a plan to so eliminate or combine (as the case may be) such components under a reduction in force or through a reorganization.
Full text preserved for this analysis. Legislative record snapshot: Mar 4, 2026. How PlainBill uses AI