The federal workforce of the United States experiences a significant transformation through a revolutionary government operational change recommended by President Donald Trump and Elon Musk.
Their administration approaches efficiency with drive to execute radical restructuring of agencies while cutting bureaucratic procedures like never before.
The new administration has launched swiftly and created the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) through which Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy lead the new entity.
Their mission, as defined by Trump, is to “dismantle government bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure federal agencies.”
The program started with a highly debated voluntary resignation program which executives introduced during late January.
Titled “Fork in the Road,” this initiative allowed federal employees to voluntarily resign by February 6, 2025, while continuing to receive their salary and benefits until September 30.
Confusion about the future of careers led the program to become highly controversial within a short period.
The voluntary program in place did not stop the administration from implementing massive layoff operations throughout different federal departments.
Federal civil service workers experienced mass removal from their jobs during the middle of February when more than 30,000 employees were dismissed from their positions along with complete departmental workforce reductions.
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) suffered the most extreme reduction of its workforce because its numbers fell from 10,000 employees down to only 300 workers.
Organizations such as the American Foreign Service Association filed legal challenges after the government mass termination policy angered stakeholders who warned about vital government program failure possibilities.
A wave of turmoil gripped federal agencies which caused workers to protect themselves from additional budget cuts and job insecurity.
праці throughout the federal workforce occurred when Elon Musk introduced a new directive that prompted instant resignations.
On February 22 the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) distributed an email to all federal employees and requested their response no later than 11:59 PM EST on Monday February 24.
The email demanded workers to provide five summary points regarding their weekly achievements along with three carbon copies to send to their managing supervisors.
Musk took to X (formerly Twitter) to announce the directive, writing, “Consistent with President @realDonaldTrump’s instructions, all federal employees will shortly receive an email requesting to understand what they got done last week. When employees do not submit a response their absence will be treated as a resignation decision.
The arrangement of a fresh command sparked immediate reactions from federal employee unions and their agency executives together with key government staff.
According to FBI Director Kash Patel employees should initially avoid responding to directives because FBI through its Office of the Director implements all review procedures according to FBI procedures. We need all employees to stop working their responses at this time.
Federal court officials also urged employees not to take action, warning that the email “did not originate from the judiciary or the administrative office.”
Union leaders have condemned the directive, with Everett Kelley, President of the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), calling it “cruel and disrespectful” to government workers.
Kelley further vowed to “challenge any unlawful terminations of our members and federal employees across the country.”
Despite intense criticism Musk along with Trump refuse to retreat from their mission to transform the government into an improved operation.
At the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), Trump celebrated the mass firings, telling supporters, “We have a country to save, but ultimately, to make greater than before.”
Federal workers find themselves dealing with an unknown future because of an imminent Monday deadline.
The outcome for numerous federal workers depends on the following two days following the massive job losses.
