Federal hiring freeze may jeopardize internships, jobs

By Sanjana Ramineni     2/18/25 10:14pm

In one of his first major executive actions following his inauguration, President Donald Trump ordered a freeze on hiring federal civilian employees across the executive branch. The directive, applicable as of noon Jan. 20, states that no vacant federal civilian position may be filled and no new position may be created.

According to the memorandum, the director of the Office of Management and Budget will develop a plan within 90 days to reduce the size of the federal government’s workforce through “efficiency improvements and attrition.” Federal agencies, including the Department of Justice, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Health and Human Services, have reportedly cut internships already.

Breezy Landman, an undergraduate program administrator in the School of Social Sciences, said that many students at Rice pursue internships in policy, public service and research, areas that the freeze could directly impact. 

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“We have a lot of students really interested in policy and lawmaking, and with the current political climate, there’s this uncertainty about what our country is going to look like in the near future,” Landman said. 

She said that government organizations like the Center for Disease Control have already canceled some of their internship programs. 

“Any public institution receiving federal support is likely to feel the effects of this freeze,” Landman said. “It’s unfortunate because these are important areas of work.”

Landman also said that the freeze may increase competition for non-government internships.

 “I certainly think it is possible that there is going to be more competition for internships that are really similar to federal internships,” Landman said. “Private sector and nonprofit organizations might see an uptick in applications just because there are fewer federal internships available, making it harder for students to earn positions.”

For many Rice students, the effects of the freeze are already hitting close to home. Lily Hestjean, a Jones College freshman studying ecology and evolutionary biology, applied to her first-choice internship associated with the United States Department of Agriculture. Like many others, the internship was revoked due to the freeze.

“It’s really important students find internships with the government and create connections with the jobs they might look for in the future. I want to do something in sustainable agriculture, but I can’t just build a farm without the resources, connections, and research,” Hestjean said. “I’m already really passionate about this issue since it’s hitting close to home. Science is my future.”

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