Since his White House takeover for the second time, Donald Trump has been actively focusing on reshaping the federal government, among many other controversial agendas. Joining hands with his “best buddy” Elon Musk and his DOGE, Department of Government Efficiency, the President has been cutting off funds, shutting down programs, and even firing thousands of federal workers. This mass termination of government employees has been deemed extremely problematic by many critics. Amid the heat, Trump finally spoke his mind, sharing that he, in fact, feels “very badly” about it but claims “many of them don’t work at all.”
His comments came after it was reported that over 1,300 workers from the Department of Education had been laid off after Linda McMahon took over the secretary position to fulfill Trump’s agenda of a state-led education. Recently, he met with the Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin at the White House, where during the press interaction, he was asked to address the growing backlash over federal workers’ terminations. He stated, “Sure I do. I feel very badly… but many of them never showed up to work.”
He emphasized his vision to reshape the government, saying, “We want to cut the people that aren’t working or… not doing a good job.” According to NBC News, Donald Trump attempted to justify the firings, blaming them for the inefficiency of federal operations.
2/ Trump: “I feel very badly, but many of them don’t work at all. Many of them never showed up to work. Many of them, many of them never showed up to work.” -Daily Beast
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The Republican leader provided the recent layoff in the Department of Education as an example of streamlining operations. Talking about the new secretary Linda McMahon’s action, Trump said, “She cut a large number, but she kept the best people.” However, the appointment of the former WWE CEO has been receiving a lot of buzz lately. The Republicans have been giving her much credit for carrying out Trump’s “final mission” before the Education Department was dismantled. On the other hand, she is also being criticized for carrying out one of the largest departmental overhauls in recent years.
This move is basically the administration’s push for a state-led education. One of his long-standing agendas has always been about reducing federal oversight in education. Pointing out the flaws in federal bureaucracy, he said, “Our country was run very badly.” During the press interaction, he further emphasized, “The goal is to allow the states to run education.
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As the Department of Education cuts off 50% of the workforce, other federal agencies are also being targeted.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has been instructed to fire around 1000 workers, cutting off at least 20% of the department’s workforce, as reported by The New York Times. Department of Veteran Affairs, Central Intelligence Agency, Internal Revenue Service, USAID, Social Security Administration, and more agencies have been ordered to follow the mass terminations.
