Reuters: Trump and Musk staged a “purge” in the US government — departments will fire thousands of people

The US President Donald Trump and DOGE CEO Elon Musk have stepped up their fight against bureaucracy in government agencies in recent days.

This is reported by Reuters, citing its sources.

Within 48 hours, relevant emails were sent to employees of the Department of Education, the Small Business Administration, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and the General Services Administration, among others.

About 280 000 US civil servants were hired less than two years ago. Most are still on probation, making it easier to fire them. The Department of Veterans Affairs has laid off more than a thousand probationary employees. The US Forest Service plans to lay off 3 400 of its people.

According to anonymous sources, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has laid off dozens of colleagues who worked full-time and had contracts with a specified end date.

According to Reuters, the restructuring of the state government, initiated by billionaire Elon Musk, first affected the Tax Collection Service and the Internal Revenue Service. American embassies were ordered to prepare for staff reductions.

Trump supports the program. He calls the government’s staff “too bloated” and says Washington is losing too much money to “waste and fraud”. But critics have railed against Musk’s brute-force approach, which has gained extraordinary influence since Trump returned to the White House.

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