To: IGA Member Tribes From: Ernie Stevens, Jr., Chairman Jason Giles, Executive Director Re: ACTION NEEDED! OPM Slates Mass Terminations by 5:00pm ET TODAY Date: February 14, 2025 Last night, we learned the White House's Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has directed agencies to begin the process of firing nearly all employees that are still within their probationary period and perhaps others. Federal employees typically remain on a probationary period for one to two years after they have been hired. Approximately 200,000 employees are expected to be affected across the government. We have also learned that agencies serving Tribes are not exempt from this directive with several thousand employees at agencies like the Indian Health Service, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Bureau of Indian Education, and the DOJ Office of Tribal Justice are slated to be terminated by 5:00 pm ET TODAY, February 14th . As you know, these agencies already face workforce shortages that jeopardize the delivery of trust and treaty obligations across Indian Country. A reduction in workforce of this scale would hobble the federal government's ability to deliver essential programs and services to Indian Country, including public safety, health care, education, and emergency management among others. We urge Tribes to call Members of Congress and Administration political appointees and tell them to immediately exempt all federal positions serving Indian Country from any workforce reductions. We have learned from inside sources that OPM’s planned firings today of employees that have worked at BIA and IHS for less than 2 years will hit these agencies hard with approximately 400 BIA employees and approximately 2700 IHS employees at risk. These agencies are already severely understaffed, and it is extremely difficult to recruit folks to fill job vacancies in Indian Country. These firings would hobble BIA’s and IHS’s abilities to provide essential services and undermine the federal government’s treaty and trust responsibilities to all Tribes. Although this information is still developing, one thing is clear: Indian Country cannot afford to allow this Administration to gut the delivery of its trust and treaty obligations to Tribes. The Indian Gaming Association is actively pushing back on this effort by relaying critical information to Congressional offices and we will continue to provide updates as they become available. Along those lines, we urge as many as possible to call your Members of Congress, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and the Department of Interior (DOI) request that the workforce in these agencies be protected. In case helpful, we have included phone numbers to HHS and DOI below along with a generic template of talking points for your reference. ____________________________________________________________
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