On Friday, President Donald Trump and his advisor Elon Musk ramped up their campaign to significantly downsize the U.S. bureaucracy, resulting in the dismissal of over 9,500 workers across various departments responsible for federal lands, military veterans’ affairs, and more.
Employees at several agencies, including the Departments of Interior, Energy, Veterans Affairs, Agriculture, and Health and Human Services, were let go in a sweeping effort that primarily affected probationary staff, who have fewer employment protections during their first year of service.
In some cases, entire agencies were essentially closed, such as the independent watchdog group, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, where the cuts also impacted employees with fixed-term contracts.
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is reportedly preparing to lay off thousands of workers next week, according to individuals familiar with the matter, which could create a bottleneck as the April 15 tax filing deadline approaches.
These firings, reported by Reuters and other major media outlets, come in addition to the approximately 75,000 workers who have accepted buyouts offered by Trump and Musk as part of their voluntary exit plan, as announced by the White House. This amounts to about 3% of the 2.3 million-person civilian workforce.
Trump argues that the federal government is excessively bloated, with a significant portion of funds lost to inefficiency and fraud. With the government’s $36 trillion debt and a $1.8 trillion deficit from the previous year, there is some bipartisan agreement that reform is necessary.
However, Democratic lawmakers in Congress contend that Trump is overstepping by interfering with the Legislature’s authority to control federal spending, despite the fact that many Republican lawmakers who hold majorities in both chambers have largely backed the cuts.
Critics have raised concerns about Musk’s heavy-handed approach, with the tech mogul leveraging his immense influence during the Trump presidency.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent dismissed these concerns on Friday, likening Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to a financial audit.
“These are serious people, and they’re going from agency to agency, doing an audit, looking for best practices,” he said during an interview on Fox Business Network.
Musk has assembled a group of young engineers with minimal experience in government affairs to lead the DOGE campaign, and their initial cuts seem driven more by ideology than by a focus on cost reduction.
Federal workers who were dismissed expressed shock and frustration.
“I’ve done a lot for my country. And as a veteran who served his country, I feel like I’ve been betrayed by my country,” said Nick Gioia, a former Army veteran who spent 17 years in the Department of Defense before joining the USDA’s Economic Research Service in December. He was fired late Thursday. “I don’t feel like this has anything to do with federal workers. I feel like this is just a game,” Gioia said, adding that the impact on his family, including his child with epilepsy, was not considered. “To sit here and watch people like Mr. Musk tweet out how he feels like he’s doing a great job — he doesn’t realize what he’s doing to people’s lives.”
Steve Lenkart, the executive director of the National Federation of Federal Employees, which represents more than 100,000 workers, expects Musk and the Trump administration to focus their cuts on agencies regulating industry and finance.
“That’s really what this whole thing is really all about,” Lenkart said. “It’s getting government out of the way of industry and incredibly rich people, which is why Elon Musk is so excited about this.”
Approximately 1,200 to 2,000 workers from the Department of Energy were laid off, including 325 employees from the National Nuclear Security Administration, which oversees the U.S. nuclear arsenal, according to sources familiar with the situation.
However, some of these layoffs, particularly those involving essential nuclear security personnel, have been “partly rescinded,” although it remains unclear how many of the 325 firings were reversed.
Another 2,300 employees were let go from the Department of the Interior, which manages the country’s vast public lands, including national parks and on- and offshore oil and gas leasing programs.
Sources also reported layoffs at the Department of Agriculture, although the exact number of affected employees remains unknown.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is cutting nearly 1,300 positions, according to the Associated Press.
These firings contribute to a broader pattern of cuts targeting various federal agencies, including Veterans Affairs, Education, and the Small Business Administration.
Officials from the Office of Personnel Management, which oversees federal hiring, advised agencies on Thursday to terminate recently hired employees who lacked full job protections, according to a source familiar with the matter.
The rapid pace and scale of Musk’s efforts have caused growing frustration among some of Trump’s aides, including White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, who have raised concerns about the lack of coordination, sources say.
In addition to the mass layoffs, Trump and Musk have been pushing to dismantle civil-service protections for career employees, freeze most foreign aid, and shutter certain government agencies, such as the U.S. Agency for International Development and the CFPB, nearly entirely.
Federal workers’ unions have filed lawsuits to block the buyout plan.
Three federal judges who are overseeing privacy cases against DOGE will decide on Friday whether Musk’s team should be granted access to Treasury Department payment systems and potentially sensitive data within U.S. health, consumer protection, and labor agencies.
Musk has deployed DOGE members to at least 16 different government agencies, where they have gained access to computer systems containing personnel and financial data before sending employees home.
The Treasury Department’s inspector general has launched an audit of the payment system’s security protocols in response to a request made by Democratic lawmakers.
{Matzav.com}
