President Trump signs executive order enforcing hiring freeze for federal civilian

COLORADO SPRINGS — President Donald Trump has signed an executive order putting a hiring freeze in place for federal civilian workers.

Many veterans work in the federal government after leaving the military, so News5 wanted to see how this freeze impacts those looking for jobs.

“It’s not degrading, but it just makes you feel, I’d say… just not enthusiastic about the job search.”

This active-duty soldier came to this hiring event in Colorado Springs but did not want us to use his name or show his face out of fear it could compromise his current assignment.

He tells us he is transitioning out of the military within the year, and this hiring freeze makes his job search even more difficult.

“A lot of us use a website called USA Jobs, and that’s a big federal job search website, so I actually started my job searching time on USA Jobs. And to know now that I have five to probably four jobs… that those right now are dead ends kind of changes things up a little bit.”

We also spoke with Anthony Luckert who has more than 20 years of service in the military. He tells us he’s not worried about the freeze.

“With the freeze being what it is, my path and my career choice is still going to be the same. I’m going to look for something while I can, find federal employment later on, and it might take a little bit longer and that’s fine. Something that I can plan for,” he tells News5.

The executive order says this hiring freeze will not affect national security, Social Security, Medicare, or veterans’ benefits.

To get more information about the executive order and how it affects our military, we spoke with Jon Dix, who is the director of transition and employment at Mt. Carmel Veterans Service Center in Colorado Springs.

“So it’s not a complete hiring freeze. There are certain agencies that have the ability to continue to hire. For example, law enforcement like Border Patrol, FBI, and detention, the Bureau of Prisons can still hire,” he said.

The hiring freeze went into effect the same day the president was sworn into office.

Watch the full story above.

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