In 2017, during the initial days of Donald Trump’s first presidential term, a government-wide hiring freeze was implemented, with exemptions granted only to “essential areas.” Notably absent from this exemption list was the Federal Bureau of Prisons, a decision that led to the permanent loss of many positions. By 2019, Eric Young, then-president of the Council of Prison Locals C-33 under the American Federation of Government Employees, declared staffing at the BOP to be in a dire state, calling it the “lowest our staffing has ever been.” The positions lost in that freeze were never recovered, and now, with Trump’s return to the presidency, another hiring freeze has set the stage for further challenges within the BOP.
On Jan. 20, 2025, the Office of Personnel Management instructed government agencies, including the BOP, to identify employees currently on probationary status or administrative leave. For the BOP, probationary employees — typically new hires brought on after extensive recruitment efforts — remain vulnerable to dismissal with little justification during their first year of service. Meanwhile, staff on administrative leave, many tied to unresolved misconduct investigations, also face an uncertain future.
Former BOP Director Colette Peters highlighted the scope of these challenges in a January 2024 “60 Minutes” interview, revealing a backlog of nearly 8,000 misconduct investigations, hundreds involving allegations of sexual abuse. Although Peters made strides in addressing the backlog by hiring additional staff, she acknowledged it would take years to resolve fully. Now, with these cases under scrutiny and many implicated staff on administrative leave, the Trump administration’s directive to compile lists of such employees has injected further uncertainty into an already strained agency.
The BOP provided a statement for this article stating, “The Federal Bureau of Prisons supports and will comply with all executive orders and memos issued under the direction of the President of the United States and the United States Office of Personnel Management. Beyond this, we have no further information to provide.”
Acting BOP Director William W. Lothrop has begun implementing the new administration’s hiring freeze through a memorandum prohibiting the filling of vacant positions as of January 20, 2025, and revoking offers made prior to that date for roles scheduled to start on or after February 5, 2025. This policy follows years of chronic staffing shortages that were already compromising BOP operations. A recent Office of Inspector General report revealed alarming vacancy rates at FMC Devens, a federal medical center in Massachusetts: 20% in Correctional Services, 24% in Health Services, and a staggering 39% in Psychology Services. These shortages, the report concluded, severely hinder the facility’s ability to provide adequate healthcare to inmates.
The impact of the hiring freeze extends beyond frontline correctional staff. Medical professionals, essential to the BOP’s ability to address the needs of an aging and often ill inmate population, were notably absent from Lothrop’s list of exemptions. The ongoing reliance on augmentation — where non-correctional staff are reassigned to security roles—and double shifts for correctional officers have further exacerbated morale issues.
The BOP was struggling to fill vacancies prior to this freeze. A recent Office of Inspector General about FMC Devens found that 20% of positions in Correctional Services were vacant, as well as 24% in Health Services and 39% in Psychology Services. It also found that such shortages compromise FMC Devens’s ability to provide adequate healthcare to inmates. The BOP was able to carve out a few essential positions but missing from that list put out be Lothrop were medical professional positions. In addition, double shifts by corrections workers and augmentation of professional positions who had to cover for corrections staff workers has only mounted over the years and the freeze will certainly lead to more issues.
This swift action by the Trump administration comes when the Department of Justice does not yet have a confirmed Attorney General and a new permanent head of the BOP. Right now, the executive orders and the new management is scrambling to keep up with the changes that are certainly coming to the BOP. Trump’s pick for Attorney General, Pamela Bondi, has yet to be confirmed but it is likely she will be and the BOP’s $8.3 billion budget will certainly be a priority for her.
Aaron McGlothin, president of a local AFGE Council 33 chapter at FCI Mendota in California, expressed concern over the uncertainty facing the BOP workforce. “We already have critical medical vacancies and only 50% staffing in food services,” McGlothin said. “If those new hires are let go, the pressure on remaining staff will increase, and more people eligible to retire will likely leave.” Despite prior efforts to offer retention bonuses, the BOP has struggled to retain employees in the face of mounting challenges.
Adding to these difficulties is the BOP’s ongoing struggle to implement the First Step Act fully. This landmark criminal justice reform law, signed by Trump during his first term, promises sentence reductions of up to a year and expanded opportunities for home confinement. However, staffing shortages and organizational upheaval have slowed its implementation, leaving many minimum and low-security inmates unable to access the full benefits of the law.
Further uncertainty looms with Trump’s renewed call for private prisons, a sharp reversal of Biden-era policies that significantly reduced their use. The closure of seven federal prisons in December 2024 has already displaced inmates and staff, and the reintroduction of private prisons is likely to spark further operational shifts.
A new permanent BOP director will be critical in navigating these changes, but the appointment is likely on hold until Pamela Bondi, Trump’s pick for Attorney General, is confirmed. With an $8.3 billion budget and a host of challenges to address, the BOP’s leadership transition will play a pivotal role in shaping the future of the agency.
The Trump administration’s swift actions have left the BOP reeling, with staffing, morale, and operations all under strain. As the agency braces for the changes ahead, the stakes for its employees, inmates, and the broader criminal justice system could not be higher.
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