Some 30,000 federal workers have been given notice since Elon Musk’s DOGE began its work in January, of a workforce of 2 million. Many senior officials at affected agencies have also stepped down. This is all part of Musk’s plan to allegedly save the government $2 trillion. Information on firings is still trickling out. Below, what we know so far.
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
At least 73 probationary workers and a similar number of contract personnel were pushed out, including senior litigation-counsel members. The firings came after the acting head, Russell Vought, ordered his staff to halt their work.
Department of Agriculture
4,200 probationary employees were terminated, including about 3,400 from the Forest Service, which manages some 200 million acres of land, halting road maintenance and environmental stewardship. Farm loan processing slowed down as loan officers were fired along with economists and food scientists. Among the dismissed workers were researchers tracking bird flu; the government is now trying to rehire them.
In This Issue: The Purge
American Wreckage
Department of Defense
No cuts so far; Secretary Pete Hegseth directed the DoD to plan an 8 percent cut to its $850 billion budget, and the administration requested a list of its probationary employees.
Department of Education
More than 60 probationary workers across the Department of Education lost their jobs, including in offices that handle federal student aid and civil rights. Workers in the legal and communications departments face termination.
Department of Energy
1,000 probationary workers were fired, nearly half of them people who were managing the power grid for the western U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services
Around 2,800 were fired, including 1,500 probationary employees at the National Institutes of Health, just one day after Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was confirmed as HHS secretary. Ditto for 10 percent of the 13,000 workers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, where jobs like ensuring the safety of medical devices and helping communities prepare for infectious outbreaks were cut. The Food and Drug Administration’s food-division head resigned, writing that it would be “fruitless” to continue.
Department of Homeland Security
More than 400 were fired, at least half from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, including the chief financial officer, who was cut after trying to reimburse New York City for funds used to house and feed migrants. One seven-member FEMA team that helped low-income communities secure disaster-mitigation funding was wiped out, and a senior member of the agency’s flood-insurance program was let go.
Department of Housing and Urban Development
The administration is reportedly considering a 50 percent cut to HUD’s workforce of 9,600, including more than 80 percent of the office responsible for natural-disaster recovery.
Department of the Interior
2,300 probationary workers were fired, including 1,000 at the National Park Service. Another 240 workers at the Geological Survey, responsible for monitoring earthquakes and volcanoes, were terminated. Workers at the Bureau of Land Management and Fish and Wildlife Service were axed.
Department of Justice
More than 20 employees involved in January 6 investigations and criminal prosecutions of Trump were fired. Seven federal prosecutors, including Interim U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Danielle Sassoon, resigned in protest of pressure from the administration to drop corruption charges against Eric Adams.
Department of State
More than 10,000 probationary workers were fired from or put on leave by the Agency for International Development. USAID projects that predict famines, facilitate water access, and offer job training in regions where terrorist groups are active have gone offline. Billions in allocated humanitarian funding sit unspent and without oversight. One source at State has suggested that the agency could be further reduced to just 294 personnel.
Department of Transportation
400 probationary employees were cut from the Federal Aviation Administration after several high-profile domestic plane crashes, including one above Washington, D.C., that killed 67 people. No air-traffic controllers were fired, but other DoT employees with the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and the Maritime Administration were pushed out. The depth of those cuts is unclear, prompting one senator to submit a letter to the department’s new head demanding answers.
Department of the Treasury
6,000 probationary workers from the Internal Revenue Service workforce of 100,000 are being cut. Before the purge, a top-ranking official resigned when Elon Musk’s team began pushing for access to the Treasury’s governmentwide payroll system.
Department of Veterans Affairs
About 1,000 of the department’s 43,000 probationary employees received termination notices, among them doctors and nurses providing direct care to veterans.
Environmental Protection Agency
388 workers with probationary positions were let go. An additional 171 workers in offices focused on DEI and environmental justice were placed on leave.
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and National Labor Relations Board
The general counsels and three board members of these agencies were removed: one Democrat at the NLRB and two at the EEOC. The administration has left both independent agencies without enough present members to vote on motions. Gwynne Wilcox, the former NLRB board member, has sued for reinstatement.
