At least 100,000 government officials have been fired since President Donald Trump took office less than two months ago. On Feb. 11, Trump signed an executive order to implement a “workforce optimization initiative” led by the new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), directed by billionaire Elon Musk.
The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is the chief human resources agency and policy manager for the Federal Government. OPM became DOGE’s primary messenger towards the federal government. On Jan. 28 OPM sent out a rather unofficial ‘Fork in the Road’ email to federal employees, providing them the option to resign and receive paid leave until Sep. 30. Employees were given one week to respond, and approximately 75,000 employees took the buyout.
This chaotic time affects many Falls Church City families, as about 454,000 federal employees work in the DC Metro area. The White House has spoken about multiple plans to cut down on all areas of the federal government.
“It’s really difficult to see [my parents] stressed out, I am also incredibly distraught about the loss of the work that they have devoted their life to,” Freshman Lyla Anderson said. “My mom especially cares so much about the work and helping developing countries… even if people may not realize it, it is going to affect everyone.”
In early February, another email was sent out by OPM, in which federal employees were asked to respond with five bullets of what they accomplished the prior week. Elon Musk tweeted that a “failure to respond will be taken as a resignation.” Some agencies told their workforce not to respond to the email.
President Trump is currently working to dismantle humanitarian missions such as the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). USAID extends assistance to countries recovering from disaster, helps those escaping poverty and promotes democracy amongst developing countries. The Trump Administration has already fired over 1,600 direct-hire USAID workers.
Trump and Musk contend that USAID’s humanitarian work is wasteful and furthers a liberal agenda. White House officials and Musk have shared false information regarding USAID’s contracts. For example, Musk shared a false video promoting a debunked claim that USAID paid Hollywood stars to visit Ukraine.
Adding on to this, another department targeted by the new administration is the Department of Education (DEI). Nearly half of DEI employees were laid off by the Trump administration. On March 20, Trump signed an executive order allowing Congress to completely shut down the national agency. While this could potentially shift more power to the states, the staff purges could indicate a plan to diminish the department’s influence.
The Trump Administration is also terminating more than 2,400 employees at the Department of Veterans Affairs, more than 4,200 employees from the USDA, and more than 7,000 employees from the Internal Revenue Service IRS.
Trump visited the Department of Justice (DOJ) on March 14, and gave a speech outlining his new plan for enforcing law and order, and addressed the“corruption” of the DOJ from when he was prosecuted.
Trump has a long history of regarding the DOJ with disdain. He claimed that there was ‘weaponization’ of the justice system when he was prosecuted for 34 felony charges.
The DOJ also has sub departments, some of which deal with immigration. This adds to the tension as President Trump started US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids. Within the first 50 days of the new administration, ICE made 32,000.‘We are delivering it beyond anyone’s expectations,” explained acting ICE director, Todd Lyons.
“Having parents who work for the federal government is usually pretty stable, but it has been a little stressful recently.” Sophomore Michelle Malheiro commented. “There is a lot of uncertainty about the future, and my parents have been frequently checking the news and their emails for any updates. I also know that my friend’s parents, who work for the government, are feeling the same stress.”
It is clear that Trump is attempting to reduce the size of the federal government considerably. Trump and Musk’s DOGE have plans to make the government smaller at the expense of American jobs. Many significant changes have occurred in the short time that Trump has been in office, and the ripple effects are extending beyond those in the federal government.
“It’s difficult, because we’re never really sure what’s going to happen next, which departments get cut and if we’re included in the riffs. The difference in exactly when someone gets fired could have big impacts on their pensions, retirement plans or future employment plans,” an anonymous student said. “Thankfully, things are pretty stable right now, but there are still so many stories from people we know who are losing their jobs which they’ve had for decades.”
