Federal Hiring Freeze Ordered by President Donald Trump Monday

Fulfilling one of his campaign promises, President Donald Trump on Monday ordered a hiring freeze of federal workers. The freeze does not include hiring of the military. The action was one of three executive orders signed by the new president Monday morning.

The United States has 2.1 million civilian federal workers. It rose by nearly 130,000 people under President Obama, according to figures from the Office of Management and Budget and the Labor Department. It's an increase, of 6.5 percent. The largest increases in recent years has been in the number of contract workers employed by the U.S. government, which more than doubled from 1999 to 2010, CNN reported, citing calculations by Paul Light, a professor of public service at New York University and author of "The True Size of Government."

Trump lists cutting the number of federal workers as one of his top priorities on his 100-day action plan, the "Contract with the American Voter." No word from the White House on whether contract workers fall under the freeze or be addressed.

It's uncertain whether someone who was recently hired but hasn't started working yet will be affected by the freeze.

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American Federation of Government Employees said the hiring freeze will disrupt government programs.

“President Trump’s action will disrupt government programs and services that benefit everyone and actually increase taxpayer costs by forcing agencies to hire more expensive contractors to do work that civilian government employees are already doing for far less,” said American Federation of Government Employees President J. David Cox Sr. “This hiring freeze will mean longer lines at Social Security offices, fewer workplace safety inspections, less oversight of environmental polluters, and greater risk to our nation’s food supply and clean water systems.”

PHOTO of Donald J. Trump, by Gage Skidmore