A “leaked” memo which has been circulating in news stories and on social media claims that Trump’s federal hiring freeze is preventing military families from getting childcare.
The memo, while legitimate, was wrong. That didn’t matter though, it was pounced on by Trump opponents and offered as proof of what a horrible person Trump must be.
Here’s a report released Wednesday by The Hill:
Trump’s federal hiring freeze forces two Army bases to close child care programsPresident Trump’s federal hiring freeze has forced two major Army bases to shutter some child care programs.Military families with children who attend child development center (CDC) programs at Fort Knox in Kentucky and U.S. Army Garrison Wiesbaden in Germany were notified last week about the suspension of the program and that no new families would be enrolled.Families at the Fort Knox base were notified Feb. 17 of the closure 10 days later.”Effective immediately, no new children will be enrolled in the CDC,” read a letter signed by the Fort Knox garrison commander, according to Military.com. “Also, effective 27 February 2017, the CDC will no longer accommodate childcare for our hourly care and part day families until further notice.”
Here’s an image of the letter:
Just three weeks ago, The Hill reported that the Pentagon made an exception which specifically mentions childcare workers in the military. Emphasis is mine:
Pentagon moves to exempt some civilians from hiring freezeAccording to the memo, written by acting Deputy Secretary of Defense Robert Work, Mattis has directed the service secretaries, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Pentagon’s inspector general, the deputy chief management officer for the Office of the Secretary of Defense, the Defense agencies and Defense Department field activities to decide which specific jobs to exempt from three overarching categories.The first category is 16 groups identified by Mattis as necessary to meet national security or public safety responsibilities. The groups include positions directly supporting overseas missions, cybersecurity positions, jobs providing childcare for military personnel, positions involved in nuclear reactor and weapons safety, and jobs in shipyards and depots directly involved in inventory management and equipment maintenance.
Military.com points out that any closure of childcare centers is happening because it takes so long to hire people for these positions:
Some Child Care Still on Hold Despite Hiring Freeze WaiverOfficials at two Army bases still plan to temporarily suspend some day care programs despite permission from the Defense Department to hire workers because they cannot fill the positions fast enough to avoid the shutdowns, they said.”Hiring child care professionals is a multistep process to perform the necessary background, safety and health checks required for individuals taking care of our community’s children,” Jacob Corbin, a spokesman for U.S. Army Garrison Wiesbaden, Germany, said in an email.
Bill O’Reilly addressed this issue last night with an update from Shannon Bream of FOX News. Skip to the 15:33 mark to see the segment:
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