9.5K fired as Musk steps up ‘efficiency’ assault on US agencies

The campaign by President Donald Trump and his adviser Elon Musk to radically cut back the U.S. bureaucracy spread on Friday, firing more than 9,500 workers who handle everything from managing federal lands to caring for military veterans.

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Workers at the Departments of Interior, Energy, Veterans Affairs, Agriculture and Health and Human Services had their employment terminated in a drive that so far has largely - but not exclusively — targeted probationary employees in their first year on the job who have fewer employment protections.

Some agencies have been essentially shuttered, such as the independent watchdog the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, where cuts also hit workers on fixed-term contracts.

The tax-collecting Internal Revenue Service is preparing to fire thousands of workers next week, two people familiar with the matter said, a move that could squeeze resources ahead of Americans’ April 15 deadline to file income taxes.

The firings are in addition to the roughly 75,000 workers who have taken a buyout that Trump and Musk have offered to get them to leave voluntarily, according to the White House. That equals about 3% of the 2.3 million person civilian workforce.

Trump says the federal government is too bloated and too much money is lost to waste and fraud. The federal government has some $36 trillion in debt and ran a $1.8 trillion deficit last year, and there is bipartisan agreement on the need for reform.

But congressional Democrats say Trump is encroaching on the legislature’s constitutional authority over federal spending, even as his fellow Republicans who control majorities in both chambers of Congress have largely supported the moves.

Critics have questioned the blunt approach of Musk, the world’s richest person, who has amassed extraordinary influence. US Treasury Secretary shrugged off those concerns, comparing Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency to a financial audit.

Trump tariffs to target auto industry

Trump on Friday kept alive his drumbeat of tariff threats, saying levies on automobiles would be coming as soon as April 2, the day after members of his cabinet are due to deliver reports to him outlining options for a range of import duties as he seeks to reshape global trade. He, however, offered no other details for his auto tariff intentions.