WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Trump administration has instructed agencies to work with “Department of Government Efficiency team leads” to identify targets for mass layoffs as part of restructuring plans due on March 13, a memo showed on Wednesday.

The memo, published by the federal human resources agency known as the Office of Personnel Management and the Office of Management and Budget, urges agencies to eliminate duplicative roles, unnecessary management layers, and non-critical jobs, while automating routine tasks, closing regional field offices and reducing the use of outside contractors.

The move, which echoes a February 11 executive order, is part of a broader push by Republican President Donald Trump and billionaire adviser Elon Musk to shrink the federal workforce and slash the federal budget.

Eliminating career employees, who make up the vast majority of the 2.3 million-strong civilian government workforce, is viewed as key to the next phase of the downsizing effort by Musk’s DOGE.

Exempt from the memo’s directives are positions necessary to meet law enforcement, border security, national security, immigration enforcement, or public safety responsibilities, the military, and the post office.

(Reporting by Alexandra Alper; Editing by Doina Chiacu and Rod Nickel)