President Donald Trump and his adviser Elon Musk’s campaign to radically cut back the U.S. bureaucracy spread on Friday, as over 9,500 workers were fired.
These workers were handling everything from managing federal lands to caring for military veterans.
Termination Of Employment Across Several Departments
Workers at the Departments of Interior, Energy, Veterans Affairs, Agriculture and Health and Human Services had their employment terminated in a drive that so far has largely – but not exclusively – targeted probationary employees in their first year on the job who have fewer employment protections.
Agencies Also Affected
Some agencies have been essentially shuttered, such as the independent watchdog the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, where cuts also hit workers on fixed-term contracts.
Internal Revenue Service To Fire Workers In The Coming Week
The tax-collecting Internal Revenue Service is preparing to fire thousands of workers next week, two people familiar with the matter said.
This move that could squeeze resources ahead of Americans’ April 15 deadline to file income taxes.
A Large Number Of Workers Have Opted For A Buyout
The firings, reported by Reuters and other major U.S. media outlets, are in addition to the roughly 75,000 workers who have taken a buyout that Trump and Musk have offered to get them to leave voluntarily, according to the White House.
That equals about three per cent of the 2.3 million person civilian workforce.
U.S. President Says Federal Government Is Too Bloated
Trump says the federal government is too bloated and too much money is lost to waste and fraud.
The federal government has some $36 trillion in debt and ran a $1.8 trillion deficit last year, and there is bipartisan agreement on the need for reform.
Trump And Musk Face Criticism
But congressional Democrats say Trump is encroaching on the legislature’s constitutional authority over federal spending, even as his fellow Republicans who control majorities in both chambers of Congress have largely supported the moves.
Critics have questioned the blunt force approach of Musk, the world’s richest person, who has amassed extraordinary nfluence in Trump’s presidency.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Calls The Exercise A Financial Audit
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Friday shrugged off those concerns, comparing Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency to a financial audit.
“These are serious people, and they’re going from agency to agency, doing an audit, looking for best practices,” he told Fox Business Network.
Musk is relying on a coterie of young engineers with little government experience to manage his DOGE campaign, and their early cuts appear to be driven more by ideology than driving down costs.
Fired Federal Workers Express Shock
“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, who served in the Army and worked for the Department of Defence for a total of 17 years before joining the USDA’s Economic Research Service in December only to be fired late
Thursday.
“I don’t feel like this has anything to do with federal workers, I feel like this is just a game,” said Gioia, who lives in Elizabethtown, Kentucky, and has a child with epilepsy.
“To it 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,” the Elizabeth Town resident said.
Expectations Of The National Federation Of Federal Employees Union
Steve Lenkart, Executive Director of the National Federation of Federal Employees Union, which represents more than 100,000 workers, said he expects Musk, whose SpaceX businesses has major contracts with the U.S. federal government, and the Trump administration to concentrate on agencies that regulate 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.”
Nuclear Cuts ‘Partly Rescinded’
About 1,200 to 2,000 workers at the Department of Energy were laid off, including 325 from the National Nuclear Security Administration, which oversees the nuclear stockpile, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters on Friday.
But those layoffs at have been “partly rescinded” to retain essential nuclear security workers, one of the sources said.
It was unclear how many of the 325 firings were rescinded.
Another 2,300 employees were axed from the Interior Department, which manages 500 million acres of public lands, including more than 60 national parks, and the country’s on- and offshore oil and gas leasing programs, sources said.
An unknown number of workers at the Department of Agriculture were also shown the door, sources said.
Employees Of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Also Affected
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is cutting nearly 1,300 workers, or one-third of its staff, the Associated Press reported.
The firings added to a round of cuts that has targeted departments including Veterans Affairs, Education and the Small Business Administration.
Meeting Between Officials From The Office Of Personnel Management And Agencies
Officials from the Office of Personnel Management, which oversees federal hiring, met with agencies on Thursday, advising them to lay off their recently hired employees who lacked full job protections, according to a person familiar with the matter.
The speed and breadth of Musk’s effort has produced growing frustration among some of Trump’s aides over a lack of coordination, including White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, sources told Reuters.
Lawsuits Challenge Musk
In addition to the job reductions, Trump and Musk have tried to gut civil-service protections for career employees, frozen most of U.S. foreign aid, and have attempted to shutter some government agencies such as the U.S. Agency for International Development and the CFPB almost entirely.
Unions representing federal workers have sued to block thebuyout plan.
Three federal judges overseeing privacy cases against DOGE will consider on Friday whether Musk’s team should have access to Treasury Department payment systems and potentially sensitive data at U.S. health, consumer protection and labor agencies.
Access To Computer Systems With Personnel And Financial Information
Musk has sent DOGE members into at least 16 government agencies.
The DOGE members gained access to computer systems with personnel and financial information, and sent workers home.
The Treasury Department’s Inspector General has launched an audit of the payment system’s security controls, according to a letter sent in response to a request by Democratic lawmaker
(With inputs from Reuters)
