Trump’s Mass Layoffs: Who Has Been Fired?

Mary Gilmore, Staff Writer

President Donald J. Trump has been firing workers across the federal workforce since his second term began. This bold and rash action has left Americans questioning the disruption this may cause in the U.S. government. These actions not only go to affect federal employees but those who rely on federal services. This comes not long after the Justice Department announced that they had fired over a dozen employees who had worked on criminal prosecutions of President Trump.

Last month the White House proposed “deferred resignation,” also known as the “Fork in the Road” program, to almost all federal employees. This offered financial incentives to over two million federal employees to resign by Feb. 6. There was a pushback by labor unions, who claimed the offer was illegal. However, their concerns were ignored. Two weeks ago 75,000 federal employees had accepted the offer. 

Besides the federal worker layoffs, the Department of Education has taken a big hit by the Trump administration. 169 contracts within the Department of Education were terminated and at least thirty-nine have been officially fired. There’s also been a $900 million cut from the Institute of Education Services, which tracks American students and ensures education remains effective. 

The Trump administration ordered agencies to layoff probationary employees, who are employed for a short time to gain civil service protection. As of this month, the Office of Personnel Management reported that there were 220,000 probationary employees. These layoffs include 5,400 probationary workers for the Defense Department. 

Additionally, this includes more than 5,000 probationary employees within the Department of Health and Human Services. Anonymous officials with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention discussed that about 700 probationary employees were laid off. 

The Department of Veterans Affairs was next to be targeted. The department announced the dismissal of over 1,000 employees who had served for less than two years. Senator Patty Murray said that this included researchers working on cancer treatment, opioid addiction, prosthetics, and burn pit exposure.

405 probationary employees in the Department of Homeland Security were also fired. And as of right now, The Internal Revenue Service also plans to lay off thousands of probationary workers.

Last week the White House had fired around 1,000 National Park Service employees. This had been an ongoing debate since late January. Earlier this month, in an attempt to fight this, twenty-two democratic and independent U.S. senators sent a letter to the U.S. Secretary of the Interior, Doug Burgum, explaining that the National Park Service needs those workers. But this letter was ineffective. 

The Trump administration also made orders for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to shut down. This department was created after the 2008 financial crisis in hopes to never have a recession again. 

As many bear witness, these layoffs shed light to what’s to come in Trump’s second term. Whether the White House has a solid plan with these layoffs or not is up for debate, but for now the nation waits in uneasy anticipation.