Estimated read time: 5-6 minutes
- Thousands of U.S. federal employees were laid off as Trump and Musk push for government efficiency.
- Critics argue the cuts, led by Musk's Department of Government Efficiency, prioritize ideology over cost savings.
- Legal challenges arise over Musk's appointment and access to sensitive government data systems.
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump and his adviser Elon Musk's campaign to radically cut back the U.S. bureaucracy spread on Friday, with thousands of workers who handle everything from securing the nation's nuclear weapons to caring for military veterans losing their jobs.
About 1,200 to 2,000 workers at the Department of Energy were laid off, including hundreds of employees from the office that oversees the nuclear stockpile, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters on Friday.
Another 2,300 employees were axed from the Interior Department, which manages 500 million acres of public lands, including more than 60 national parks, as well as the country's on- and offshore oil and gas leasing programs, sources told Reuters.
An unknown number of workers at the Department of Agriculture were also shown the door, sources said.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is losing 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.
Officials from the Office of Personnel Management, which oversees federal hiring, met with agencies on Thursday, advising them to lay off their probationary employees, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Some 280,000 employees out of the 2.3 million member civilian federal workforce were hired in the last two years, with most still on probation and easier to fire, according to government data.
Moves at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau signaled a broader range of people being targeted beyond probationary employees, sources said, with some employees on fixed-term contracts being axed.
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.
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.
"I take Secretary Collins at his word when he says there will be no impact to the delivery of care, benefits, and services for veterans with this plan," Republican Rep. Mike Bost, who heads the House panel that oversees the Department of Veterans Affairs, said in a statement on Friday, referring to the department's chief, Doug Collins. The department said on Thursday it was firing more than 1,000 employees.
The full scope of the layoffs was still emerging, but at a minimum more than 9,500 employees across a dozen departments and agencies have been fired this week, according to reporting by Reuters and other outlets.
Blunt force
Critics have questioned the blunt force approach of Musk, the world's richest person, who has amassed extraordinary influence in Trump's presidency.
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, dismissing what he called "hysteria" over the cuts.
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.
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.
Steve Lenkart, executive director of the National Federation of Federal Employees union, which represents more than 100,000 workers, said he expects Musk and the Trump administration to concentrate going forward on agencies that regulate industry and finance.
"That's really what this whole thing is really all about," Lenkart. "It's getting government out of the way of industry and incredibly rich people, which is why Elon Musk is so excited about this."
Lawsuits challenge Musk
In addition to the layoffs, Trump and Musk have offered some federal workers an incentive package to quit voluntarily, 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.
About 75,000 workers have signed up for the buyout, the White House said, equal to 3% of the civilian workforce.
Workers throughout the government who opted not to take the buyout worried if they will be next on the chopping block.
"I decided to roll the dice and stick around," said an employee in the General Services Administration, who was granted anonymity to discuss his decision not to take the buyout. "It is a little unsettling to say the least."
Unions representing federal workers have sued to block the buyout plan. The American Federation of Government Workers said on Thursday it will also fight the mass firings of probationary employees.
A suit filed on Thursday by the attorneys general of 14 states alleges Musk was illegally appointed by Trump and seeks an order barring him from taking any further government action.
Along with those court challenges, Musk and DOGE have been hit with several privacy lawsuits over their access to government computer systems.
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.
Musk has sent DOGE members to at least 16 government agencies, where they have 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 lawmakers. A congressional watchdog, the Government Accountability Office, has also accepted a Democratic request to review the decision to give DOGE access to Treasury systems.
DOGE did not respond to a request for comment on the widespread layoffs, but a spokesperson for OPM said the firings were in line with new government policy.
Contributing: Leah Douglas, Susan Heavey, David Lawder and Tom Hals
