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The Impact of DOGE’s Federal Workforce Cuts

In the weeks following Donald Trump’s return to the White House, his administration has launched an unprecedented assault on the federal workforce. Working with unelected billionaire Elon Musk, who leads the newly-created “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE), the administration has fired thousands of federal workers. Trump terminated these workers with no warning and through chaotic processes that often left some fired, unfired, and fired again. The incompetence of Trump’s cruelty is truly astounding – for example, they fired the employees charged with keeping the United States’s more than 3,000 nuclear warheads safe, then tried to unfire them once their actual job duties became clear, but could not even figure out how to contact them.

Elon Musk’s reckless and cruel purge is happening in direct violation of established laws governing federal employment and without congressional approval. It represents not a trimming of the bureaucratic fat, but a deliberate effort to cripple essential government functions that Americans rely on every day. Firing large swaths of vital federal workers accomplishes no real policy objective and will almost certainly damage government agency performance.

Despite claims of massive government savings and improved efficiency, Musk’s mass firing strategy for government workers is fundamentally flawed because total personnel costs represent only 4% of the federal budget. Large-scale layoffs will barely reduce government spending while crippling government functionality.

The following talking points outline how this federal worker purge affects Americans of all backgrounds across the country—not just those who work for the government.

Talking Points

The purge will hurt the economy and our bank accounts:
  • By firing over 6,000 IRS employees just before taxes are due, we can expect longer waits for tax refunds and more unanswered calls to customer service.
  • The IRS cuts mean fewer resources to prevent tax scams that cost billions, and a reduced capacity to modernize digital services like the successful Direct File program that makes tax filing easier and free for eligible Americans.
  • DOGE targeted the IRS by design – billionaires and millionaires do not want to pay taxes, and by billionaire Musk cutting IRS staffing down, wealthy taxpayers can evade tax laws even more easily, reducing tax revenue that benefits everyone.
  • Our already dire housing shortage will be worsened by DOGE’s cut of forty percent of Federal Housing Administration (FHA) staff. Less affordable housing stock means less housing and higher housing prices.
  • The FHA is also responsible for servicing loans that make housing affordable for working families. 800,000 families rely on these loans, and may now be unable to secure mortgages.
  • By slashing nearly all staff and programs at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, policies aimed at stopping predatory practices are now in limbo. These policies include a rule that would have stopped credit card companies from charging astronomical fees.
  • Who wins when consumer protections are removed? Investment banks, payday lending companies, and car companies (like Tesla’s) financing arms, which aligns nicely with those who contributed to Trump’s reelection and work intimately with the administration.
  • Even purges at the Department of Energy will impact your utility bill, because money-saving projects are now on hold indefinitely.
Trump and Musk have endangered our public spaces, air, and water:
  • The severe cuts to National Park Service staff threaten the preservation of our most beautiful landscapes. Without proper maintenance, our national heritage sites face accelerated deterioration, putting decades of conservation efforts in jeopardy.
  • The dramatic reduction in park rangers and maintenance crews creates dangerous conditions for the millions of Americans who visit our parks each year. Unmaintained trails, delayed emergency response times, and reduced visitor guidance significantly increase the risk of serious accidents and potentially life-threatening situations in remote areas.
  • With less staff to manage public land, Americans will have a harder time accessing recreation areas, fishing spots, and hunting grounds.
  • Reduced staffing for forest management and emergency response puts communities near public lands at greater risk from natural disasters.
  • Purging the scientists and inspectors responsible for monitoring our air and water quality and enforcing pollution standards will harm vulnerable populations and communities of color.
Relentlessly firing thousands of doctors, scientists, and other experts threatens our health and safety:
  • The bird flu is becoming less contained and more likely to reach the human population. Slashing Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) research, websites, and staff puts us all in danger.
  • In the meantime, by cutting US Department of Agriculture (USDA) staff, including those working on bird flu, we have no one protecting our food supply from the threat of bird flu.
  • DOGE fired 1,200 researchers at the National Institutes of Health, so our loved ones with cancer, Alzheimer’s, and other diseases are now much further from new treatments and possible cures.
  • In a time when climate disasters–like the LA fires or North Carolina floods–are growing more frequent and more dangerous, Trump and Musk have fired disaster recovery experts across the country. If our community experiences a natural disaster, we will not have the critical help we need to recover.
Federal workers are our fellow Americans:
  • DOGE purged nearly 6,000 veterans who have sacrificed so much for our country – they were cast aside without health insurance or support. White House adviser Alina Habba said that veterans affected by the DOGE purge may not be “fit to have a job at this moment.”
  • Thousands of families have been harmed by these unlawful mass firings – suddenly having no income and no insurance.
  • The private sector will take its cues from the federal government’s cruel disregard for its workers. Corporations will now feel even more free to slash your pay, your benefits, and your protections.
  • Communities adjacent to national parks, forests, and other large federal employers will see reduced tourism and economic activity.
These purges threaten democracy:
  • Congress appropriated the money used to fund these departments, and did not legislate this mass defunding. An unelected billionaire is unlawfully overruling our elected representatives, ignoring the Constitution’s separation of powers.
  • DOGE is not targeting waste – instead they are dismantling the public services that keep our country running and keep us safe.

Resources

  • A coalition of labor unions filed a lawsuit challenging a February 14 Office of Personnel Management (OPM) memo directing federal agencies to mass-terminate approximately 16,000 probationary employees across multiple government departments. Judge William Alsup of the US District of Northern California ruled the memo illegal, declaring that OPM has no authority to order mass firings at other agencies and ordering the directives to be rescinded. Some agencies, like the National Science Foundation have begun reinstating fired employees with backpay, while others have continued firing employees.
  • Fed Oath supports federal employees facing political targeting, providing legal resources and potential lawsuit assistance through partnerships with experienced legal professionals. The organization was founded by a former VA employee who experienced wrongful termination and seeks to defend civil servants against unjust administrative actions.
  • State and local governments across the United States are responding to federal workforce cuts by creating job resources, hosting career fairs, and developing support programs for displaced federal workers, with states like Virginia and New York launching targeted campaigns to help workers find new employment.