This action followed a campaign by President Donald Trump and his adviser Elon Musk to significantly reduce US bureaucracy.
Reports indicate that employees from the departments of Interior, Energy, Veterans Affairs, Agriculture, and Health and Human Services had their positions terminated, primarily targeting probationary employees in their first year with fewer employment protections.
According to the White House, these dismissals are in addition to the approximately 75,000 workers who accepted a buyout offered by Trump and Musk to leave voluntarily.
Trump argued that the federal government is too bloated, leading to significant waste and fraud.
The government holds $36 trillion in debt and ran a $1.8 trillion deficit last year, with bipartisan consensus on the need for reform.
However, congressional Democrats claim that Trump is infringing on the legislature's constitutional authority over federal spending, while his fellow Republicans, controlling majorities in both chambers of Congress, have largely supported the measures.
The rapid pace and extent of Musk’s efforts have reportedly caused frustration among some of Trump’s aides, including White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, due to a lack of coordination.
In addition to job cuts, Trump and Musk have aimed to dismantle civil-service protections for career employees, frozen most US foreign aid, and attempted to close agencies like the US Agency for International Development and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).
Nearly half of the probationary workers at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health are being forced out.
The US Forest Service is also firing around 3,400 recent hires, while the National Park Service is terminating about 1,000 employees.
Similarly, the Internal Revenue Service is preparing to dismiss thousands of workers next week, potentially affecting resources ahead of Americans’ April 15 tax filing deadline.
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