Trump, along with Musk, order larger cuts to the US workforce

On February 12, 2025By Littum

The Washington conveyed by Elon Musk in the Oval Office signed President Donald Trump an executive order on Tuesday seeking to “reduce government size” by instructing managers of federal departments and agencies to take on plans for “large reductions in effect.”

Trump’s latest order is instructing the federal government to implement a “workforce optimization initiative” created by Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, which has moved quickly from one department to another to cut expenses and intestinal programs.

“It is not optional to reduce federal expenses, it is important,” said Musk, wearing a black magahue and with his son, X, in remarks that stood next to Trump sitting behind the Resolute Desk. Musk called the federal bureaucracy for the “non -selected” fourth branch of the government and said it should be held responsible.

“The people voted for greater government reform, and that’s what the people will get,” Musk said, responding to offenders calling his commitment a hostile takeover. “That’s what democracy is all about.”

Agency executives are ordered to “coordinate and consult a DOGE to shrink the size of the federal workforce and limit employment to significant positions,” says a distribution of the White House about the order.

“Agencies will take on plans for large reductions in effect and decide which agency components (or agencies themselves) can be removed or combined because their functions are not required by law,” the white house document said.

Musk’s appearance with Trump in the Oval Office first marked the billionaire SpaceX CEO has taken questions from journalists in a public surroundings since he has taken power in Trump’s second period.

The order comes as Trump’s administration has offered buyouts to almost all 2.3 million federal employees in a push to drastically reduce the federal workforce. But the offer that would pay employees through September if they agree to resign is currently being held up in court after a federal judge in Massachusetts extended a break Monday to hear arguments from both sides in a legal challenge that is Landscaped by federal staff associations.

The Trump administration has signaled that Furlough’s and redundancies are likely if not enough federal workers agree on the acquisitions. More than 60,000 workers have accepted BUYOUT, which is less than the White House projections for 5% to 10% of federal workers to participate.

According to the order, federal agencies are instructed to hire no more than one employee for every four employees who depart after Trump’s daily executive order for a federal employment of the freezer expires. Exceptions are departments involving immigration, law enforcement and public security, the White House said.

Ordered tasks also the US Office of Personnel Administration to create new rules to “ensure that federal employees are kept to the highest standards of behavior.”

A MEMO last week from OPS to Department and Agency Managers requested the names of all employees who received less than a “fully successful” performance assessment in the last three years. It also asked them to identify potential barriers to ensure “the ability to quickly end employees in poor execution that cannot or will not improve.”

Guided by Musk and his Doge helpers, Trump has spent his first three weeks settling the federal government, including closing the US Agency of International Development and taking steps to do the same with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Trump has also discussed attempts to eliminate the Department of Education.

Musk’s efforts have created showdowns in court, which can eventually decide whether Trump has the executive authority to run the federal government in the ways his administration imagines. Federal judges have stopped elements of the USID closure and blocked Musk’s team from accessing the Treasury’s payment systems.

Well Joey Garrison on x @joeyewarrison.