Trump memo calls on US federal agencies to prepare for mass layoffs
The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) stated in a memo on Wednesday that the layoffs will be included in a March 13 deadline-related restructuring plan.
Trump also made fun of the firings at his first cabinet meeting, naming one target as the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which is run by Lee Zeldin.
“I spoke with Lee Zeldin, and he thinks he’s going to be cutting 65 or so percent of the people from environmental”, Trump said.
The memo is the most recent effort by Trump and Musk to demolish government departments and initiatives that conservatives have long found objectionable or hostile to his agenda.
Trump has argued that they are working to reduce the burden on the taxpayer and reduce bureaucracy, but critics claim that Republicans’ push would result in a sizable increase in the deficit, with the wealthy being largely beneficiaries.
Trump and his allies discussed the need to remove the government’s employees from their ilk before his January return to the White House.
During a rally on the first day of his second term, Trump renewed that sentiment, calling to remove what he termed “Biden bureaucrats” — a reference to former President Joe Biden.
However, experts point out that many federal employees are nonpartisan civil service employees who support the stability of various presidential administrations.
The layoffs outlined in Wednesday’s memo were exempt from the organizations that are important to immigration and law enforcement.
The executive branch is criticized for its lack of authority to dissolve agencies that were created and funded by the US Congress, where the legality of the mass-layoff efforts has been challenged in court.
Such legal challenges have enjoyed mixed success, however.
Source: Aljazeera
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