yustyoking

American Roulette

Happy February!

In recent weeks, the Trump Administration has laid off tens of thousands of federal employees across numerous agencies. Lacking constitutional authority, Elon Musk and his assistants at the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) continue their effort to dismantle the federal workforce without any clear analysis of the impact. Federal agencies and the American people will suffer devastating consequences.

Since more than 80% of federal employees live outside of the Washington DC area, the effects of these “large-scale reductions in force” will be felt in communities across the country and reduce the effectiveness of government operations.

These layoffs follow a 77,000-person reduction in the size of the federal workforce via acceptance of Musk’s “deferred resignation” offer: Employees who signed the agreement will receive pay until September, while no longer being required to work.

There are timebombs.  

Musk and his U.S. DOGE Service have fired 400 federal workers at the Department of Homeland Security. Two hundred of those cuts are Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) employees. Good luck when the next hurricane floods the South, the next snowpocalypse snarls the East Coast, California burns to the ground or terrorists blow up our cities.

What will happen to our food and medicine when Trump hollows out the Food and Drug Administration?

Where will we get vaccine to fight the next pandemic when Trump/Musk terminate research funding by Executive Order?

Layoffs at the Federal Aviation Administration make flying that much more dangerous.      

Awaiting a tax return? With tax season looming, the IRS has cut nearly 6,000 newly hired employees, representing about 7% of its workforce.

DOGE has dismissed dozens of probationary federal employees at the Department of Education. Considering how MAGA supporters attack the curriculum at our schools and libraries, these turbulent times bode ill for our children’s education.

DOGE has reduced the Small Business Administration staff by 720 employees— approximately 20% of its workforce— while inflation rises and bird flu sends egg and chicken prices skyrocketing. Since February 2022, over 150 million chickens have been killed to stop the spread of the H5N1 epidemic. No longer profitable, many restaurants have been forced to close.

While Musk and his minions chainsaw their way through a supposedly bloated bureaucracy, more than 10,000 United States Agency for International Development (USAID) staff have been placed on administrative leave, abandoning aid programs around the world. With USAID funds frozen, $500 million in food has been left rotting in ports and warehouses.

No longer a beacon of democracy, America can expect foreign adversaries to attack. How will America defend itself when Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has fired the career leadership at the Pentagon?

More than 1,000 Department of Veteran Affairs employees have been dismissed, including some working at the Veterans Crisis Hotline, leaving soldiers and military veterans like me who are suffering from PTSD to fend for ourselves, always a ticking timebomb.

The good news is that north of the border, 250,000 Canadians have signed a petition demanding that their government rescind Elon Musk’s Canadian citizenship. Shazam!     

On its website, DOGE has claimed savings to date of $65 billion, but offered no explanation for why some previous items have been removed or how it had arrived at this total. A “wall of receipts” is the only public ledger the organization has produced to document its work. Riddled with errors, this “wall” calls into question the veracity of DOGE’s claim. Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, has said in a written statement that the cost-cutting initiative “has already identified billions of dollars in savings.” Do tell.

Buzzing chainsaw DOGE axed roughly 2,000 Department of Energy employees, including those who worked for the critical National Nuclear Security Administration. The Trump Administration quickly reversed the layoffs, after learning how critical those jobs are to the security of our nuclear arsenal. D’oh?

It’s amateur night at Trump casino. Good luck!

This blog post is based partly on data from NARFE, the National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association.