Donald Trump’s administration Wednesday laid the groundwork for more large-scale layoffs, as downsizing czar Elon Musk pledged that he would move quickly to slash spending. At the first meeting of Trump’s cabinet, Musk said he aims to cut the $6.7 trillion budget by $1 trillion this year, an ambitious target that could entail significant disruption of govt programmes. Trump reiterated his promise to refrain from cutting popular health and retirement benefits that account for nearly half of that total.
“We’re not going to touch it,” said Trump, whose unprecedented govt overhaul has so far fired more than 20,000 workers, frozen foreign aid, and disrupted construction projects and scientific research. But it has not slowed spending so far. According to a Reuters analysis, the govt spent 13% more during Trump’s first month in office than during the same time last year, largely due to higher interest payments on the debt and rising health and retirement costs incurred by an aging population. “If this continues, the country will go de facto bankrupt,” Musk said at the cabinet meeting, where he wore a black “Make America Great Again” baseball cap and a t-shirt that read “tech support”.
The layoffs so far have focused on probationary workers who lack full employment protections. Trump’s administration is preparing for deeper cuts targeting career employees. A memo released ahead of the cabinet meeting called for a “significant reduction” but did not specify how many workers should be laid off, beyond the 100,000 of the nation’s 2.3 million civilian federal workers who have already taken a buyout or been fired. Agencies would have to submit plans by March 13, a day before current government funding is due to expire, according to the mem.
Some senior members of Trump’s administration were surprised by a Saturday email directive to federal workers to justify their jobs. Some agencies told employees to ignore Musk’s demand. Agencies refusing to comply are run by close Trump allies like Kash Patel, Tulsi Gabbard and Pam Bondi.
Musk, the world’s richest person, told the meeting his email was an attempt to find out whether govt paycheques were going to actual workers. “We think there are a number of people on the government payroll who are dead,” he said, without providing evidence. Trump suggested that the roughly 1 million people who did not respond to Musk’s mail might be at risk. “They are on the bubble,” he said. Twenty-one workers resigned from Musk’s DOGE in protest Tuesday, saying they did not want to use their skills to dismantle public services.agencies