Jon Stewart, an American comedian and actor who hosts The Daily Show, had words about the continuous federal firings led by Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). “They are viewing those people immediately through the prism of a parasitic relationship to our money. And viewing them immediately as enemies and suspicious,” said Stewart on his podcast The Weekly Show.
Musk and his DOGE workers, with a lack of government experience, have spent the month of February accessing America’s private information, cancelling government contracts and instructing government agencies to fire employees in the name of cost cutting and efficiency.
An email was sent out by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) on Feb. 22 to millions of federal employees asking them to respond with five bullet points explaining what they had accomplished that week.
Recipients of the email were given mixed guidance on if they should comply with the given instructions. The OPM initially claimed employees did not have to respond to the email then later stated similar requests could happen going forward and noncompliance would have consequences.
Musk said on X that employees not responding would be taken as resignation. Karoline Leavitt, the White House Press Secretary said that one million workers responded to the email, less than half of the 2.4 million individuals predicted to be part of the federal workforce.
The employees that were targeted for recent firings included individuals recently hired or promoted as well as individuals still within their probationary period, which typically lasts one to two years depending on the agency.
The firings spanned multiple government agencies including the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau who laid off more than 100 employees and the Department of Education who fired 60 employees and put dozens on administrative leave. The Department of Energy fired between 1,200 and 2,000 employees and the Department of Human Services fired around 1,300 Centers For Disease Control (CDC) employees.
The Department of the Interior fired at least 2,300 employees including 800 Bureau of Land Management employees and 1,000 National Park service workers. This is only part of an exhaustive list of departments and the cuts they have had to make.
Politicians and constituents from both sides of the political aisle have voiced upset and skepticism about Musk and the role he has been given in the federal government.
Kansas Republican Sen. Jerry Moran has voiced concern about the changes being made to the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and how it could result in food spoiling instead of being sent around the world.
Ezra Levin, co-founder of group Indivisible, said Musk was “a major weak link in the MAGA coalition. I can’t think of something that polls worse than the richest man in the world is coming after your Social Security check or your Meals on Wheels or your Head Start.”
Gabriella Pinto, a junior at the University of New Haven, has her own theories as to the reason for the mass layoffs. “I think the mass layoffs fall in line with the plans at Project 2025 had stated. To me, it feels like an attempt to only employ those whose views match up with what the current presidential administration says is okay,” she said.
