Trump’s federal hiring freeze forces two Army bases to close child care programs

President 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.”

{mosads}Military families in Germany were notified six days before the closure. A letter circulating online dated for Wednesday noted that all part-day programs would end Feb. 28.

“This closure is a result of staff shortage due to the Federal Hiring Freeze,” the letter says. “It is with deep regret that USAG Wiesbaden CYS must take this action.”

Child care programs make up about half of the Army’s $1.1 billion annual budget for family programs, according to the Military.com report.

If you don’t think @realDonaldTrump’s #hiringfreeze hurts our military, and military families, think again. This just leaked online. pic.twitter.com/H69Uh8Fukq

— VoteVets (@votevets) February 21, 2017

President Trump signed an executive order on Jan. 23 freezing all federal government hiring, one of his promises from his presidential campaign. The freeze exempts the military.

The Trump administration said the freeze will end once the Office of Management and Budget creates a “long-term plan to reduce the size of the Federal Government’s workforce through attrition.”