US President Donald Trump has ordered federal agencies to implement another round of mass layoffs, escalating efforts to shrink the government workforce.
At his first cabinet meeting, Trump gave a spotlight to billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk, who outlined ambitious budget-cutting plans that could see up to $1 trillion slashed from federal spending this year, Reuters reported.
A new memo issued Wednesday directed agencies to submit plans by March 13 for a “significant reduction” in staffing.
While the document did not specify the number of expected job cuts, it signals a major shift toward targeting veteran civil servants after earlier layoffs primarily affected probationary workers with fewer job protections.
At the cabinet meeting, Trump highlighted specific departments facing deep cuts.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin is preparing to reduce up to 65% of his agency’s 15,000-strong workforce, while sources at the Interior Department revealed that divisions such as the US Fish and Wildlife Service and the Bureau of Indian Affairs have been instructed to brace for workforce reductions as high as 40%.
100,000 employees have either been dismissed or taken buyouts
So far, approximately 100,000 of the 2.3 million civilian federal employees have either been dismissed or taken buyouts under the administration’s cost-cutting measures.
The layoffs are part of the ongoing restructuring led by Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), a controversial initiative that has drawn both praise for its fiscal discipline and criticism for its impact on public services.
In a rare move, Trump invited Musk—a private-sector leader with no formal government position—to address the cabinet directly.
Wearing a black “Make America Great Again” baseball cap and a T-shirt reading “Tech Support,” the Tesla and SpaceX CEO confidently laid out his vision for trimming federal expenditures.
Musk, who has been informally overseeing DOGE, claimed he could cut $1 trillion from the $6.7 trillion federal budget, a target that would require unprecedented downsizing and program eliminations.
Despite the White House’s legal insistence that Musk is not officially in charge of DOGE, Trump has repeatedly referred to him as the leader of the initiative, with Musk’s aides embedded in key government offices.
The billionaire’s role in shaping federal workforce policy has raised questions about executive power, transparency, and the potential long-term consequences of large-scale job cuts.
With agencies now racing to meet the March deadline, the administration’s aggressive push to overhaul the federal government is expected to spark further debate about the balance between efficiency and essential public services.
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