WASHINGTON — The federal government hiring freeze implemented by President Donald Trump as one of his first acts in office will be lifted today. But budget director Mick Mulvaney says many jobs will remain unfilled as the White House embarks on a governmentwide effort to overhaul the executive branch and significantly reduce its workforce.

Mulvaney told reporters Tuesday at a White House briefing that the move was part of the president’s campaign pledge to “drain the swamp” in Washington and save taxpayers money.

“What we’re doing tomorrow is replacing the across-the-board hiring freeze that we put into place on Day One in office and replacing it with a smarter plan, a more strategic plan, a more surgical plan,” he said.

The president signed a memorandum in January freezing large portions of federal government hiring. As part of the memorandum, Trump gave the Office of Management and Budget 90 days to come up with a long-term plan to reduce the federal government’s size.

While the guidance to be issued today does not contain agency-specific hiring goals or limits, Mulvaney said that agencies targeted with significant budget cuts in Trump’s first budget proposal, such as the Environmental Protection Agency, would be expected to make significant cuts to their work forces. Agencies Trump wants to spend more on, like the Department of Veterans Affairs, would be expected to see their payrolls rise.

Under the guidance, agencies will also have until June to submit drafts for overhauling their work forces and coming up with ideas for streamlining operations as part of a larger effort to restructure the federal government.