Federal Layoffs Under Musk and Trump Are "Just Getting Started"
During the inaugural Cabinet meeting of the new administration, Donald Trump and Elon Musk suggested that there might be additional requests for federal workers to clarify their job responsibilities.
TroibNews 
Federal agencies have been instructed to prepare plans by mid-March for significant employee layoffs as part of President Donald Trump’s initiative to reshape the federal workforce.
“Pursuant to the President’s direction, agencies should focus on the maximum elimination of functions that are not statutorily mandated while driving the highest-quality, most efficient delivery of their statutorily-required functions,” states a memo released on Wednesday from the Office of Management and Budget and the Office of Personnel Management.
While layoffs have already occurred since Trump assumed office, this development represents a further advance in his agenda. Previous dismissals primarily affected probationary employees—typically those who have been in their positions for one to two years—whereas these layoffs could impact a broader range of federal workers. Agencies have been directed to submit their “agency RIF and reorganization plans” by March 13.
“The federal government is costly, inefficient, and deeply in debt,” wrote OMB Director Russ Vought and OPM acting Director Charles Ezell. “At the same time, it is not producing results for the American public. Instead, tax dollars are being siphoned off to fund unproductive and unnecessary programs that benefit radical interest groups while hurting hard working American citizens.”
The memo instructs agency leaders to work alongside “team leads” from the Department of Government Efficiency—an entity managed by Elon Musk that has been overseeing cuts across various government sectors.
This impending mass layoff is part of a broader pattern of employee reductions and buyouts as DOGE aims to revamp the federal structure. More than 77,000 employees accepted buyout offers based on a “Fork in the Road” email from DOGE.
Following this, “probationary” employees throughout the government received termination notices.
At the initial Cabinet meeting of his administration, Trump mentioned that the federal government would implement a “little more surgical” approach to budget cuts, signaling a shift from previous broad dismissals, especially as some Republican lawmakers began to distance themselves from Musk's strategies.
“We’re being a little more surgical, and [Elon Musk] is doing a lot of things himself,” Trump remarked. He also indicated that some agencies could reduce their staffing by more than half and that the Department of Education's duties would largely be handed off to state governments.
This revised approach follows a recent email from Musk that unsettled federal employees by requiring them to outline five points demonstrating their productivity, with threats of dismissal for non-compliance by a stated deadline—though it was later clarified that responses were optional.
Musk's presence at the Cabinet meeting, where he sat apart from the main table, highlights his significant influence within the Trump administration.
“We’re going to send another email,” Musk commented. “Our goal is not to be capricious or unfair. … We want to give people every opportunity to send an email, and the email could simply be, ‘What I’m working on is too sensitive or classified to describe.’ That would be sufficient.”
Musk expressed a desire to retain employees who are performing essential roles effectively. He claimed that the five-bullet directive was sanctioned by Trump, although some agency heads instructed their staff to refrain from responding. The deadline for those responses passed Monday at midnight, and on Tuesday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt announced that over a million replies had been received.
Trump added during the Cabinet meeting that federal employees who do not respond to Musk’s subsequent email could face termination. "It’s possible a lot of those people will be fired," he informed reporters.
The reduction in force memo indicates that agencies should strive to “consolidate management layers where unnecessary layers exist” and to eliminate positions that are “duplicative.” It also requires the identification of “competitive areas for large-scale reductions in the force” and the ramifications of such reductions, including canceled contracts, leases, or overhead costs. Positions considered essential for “law enforcement, border security, national security, immigration enforcement, or public safety responsibilities,” as well as those within the armed forces, are excluded from these layoffs.
A month after the mid-March deadline, agencies are expected to submit a “Phase 2” plan that outlines a “positive vision for more productive, efficient agency operations going forward,” which will be approved and take effect by September 30.
Sanya Singh for TROIB News
“Pursuant to the President’s direction, agencies should focus on the maximum elimination of functions that are not statutorily mandated while driving the highest-quality, most efficient delivery of their statutorily-required functions,” states a memo released on Wednesday from the Office of Management and Budget and the Office of Personnel Management.
While layoffs have already occurred since Trump assumed office, this development represents a further advance in his agenda. Previous dismissals primarily affected probationary employees—typically those who have been in their positions for one to two years—whereas these layoffs could impact a broader range of federal workers. Agencies have been directed to submit their “agency RIF and reorganization plans” by March 13.
“The federal government is costly, inefficient, and deeply in debt,” wrote OMB Director Russ Vought and OPM acting Director Charles Ezell. “At the same time, it is not producing results for the American public. Instead, tax dollars are being siphoned off to fund unproductive and unnecessary programs that benefit radical interest groups while hurting hard working American citizens.”
The memo instructs agency leaders to work alongside “team leads” from the Department of Government Efficiency—an entity managed by Elon Musk that has been overseeing cuts across various government sectors.
This impending mass layoff is part of a broader pattern of employee reductions and buyouts as DOGE aims to revamp the federal structure. More than 77,000 employees accepted buyout offers based on a “Fork in the Road” email from DOGE.
Following this, “probationary” employees throughout the government received termination notices.
At the initial Cabinet meeting of his administration, Trump mentioned that the federal government would implement a “little more surgical” approach to budget cuts, signaling a shift from previous broad dismissals, especially as some Republican lawmakers began to distance themselves from Musk's strategies.
“We’re being a little more surgical, and [Elon Musk] is doing a lot of things himself,” Trump remarked. He also indicated that some agencies could reduce their staffing by more than half and that the Department of Education's duties would largely be handed off to state governments.
This revised approach follows a recent email from Musk that unsettled federal employees by requiring them to outline five points demonstrating their productivity, with threats of dismissal for non-compliance by a stated deadline—though it was later clarified that responses were optional.
Musk's presence at the Cabinet meeting, where he sat apart from the main table, highlights his significant influence within the Trump administration.
“We’re going to send another email,” Musk commented. “Our goal is not to be capricious or unfair. … We want to give people every opportunity to send an email, and the email could simply be, ‘What I’m working on is too sensitive or classified to describe.’ That would be sufficient.”
Musk expressed a desire to retain employees who are performing essential roles effectively. He claimed that the five-bullet directive was sanctioned by Trump, although some agency heads instructed their staff to refrain from responding. The deadline for those responses passed Monday at midnight, and on Tuesday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt announced that over a million replies had been received.
Trump added during the Cabinet meeting that federal employees who do not respond to Musk’s subsequent email could face termination. "It’s possible a lot of those people will be fired," he informed reporters.
The reduction in force memo indicates that agencies should strive to “consolidate management layers where unnecessary layers exist” and to eliminate positions that are “duplicative.” It also requires the identification of “competitive areas for large-scale reductions in the force” and the ramifications of such reductions, including canceled contracts, leases, or overhead costs. Positions considered essential for “law enforcement, border security, national security, immigration enforcement, or public safety responsibilities,” as well as those within the armed forces, are excluded from these layoffs.
A month after the mid-March deadline, agencies are expected to submit a “Phase 2” plan that outlines a “positive vision for more productive, efficient agency operations going forward,” which will be approved and take effect by September 30.
Sanya Singh for TROIB News
