Elon Musk-headed Department of Government Efficiency has drawn criticisms for ruthlessly going for job cuts. Now a seasoned civil servant has been physically dragged out of his office for voicing against DOGE, as per a report.
Greg Pearre, who was chief of IT team at Social Security Administration, protested against Musk’s department’s plan to prevent immigrants from availing financial services.
Trump and Musk undertook a sweeping campaign to cut the size of the 2.3 million-strong civilian U.S. government workforce. Nearly 200,000 employees have been fired or earmarked for termination or have accepted buyouts, as per a Reuters report.
The layoffs have primarily been aimed at probationary workers, many in jobs for less than a year with fewer job protections than longer-tenured staffers. A judge ruled in March that the terminations of some 25,000 probationary employees were likely illegal, forcing federal agencies to begin reinstating them. Meanwhile, a new wave of cuts targeting career government workers has begun and is intensifying after Trump ordered federal agencies to submit plans for large-scale layoffs by March 13.
Last week, Elon Musk indicated for the first time that his Department of Government Efficiency was falling short of its goal, as per a NYT News Service report.
He previously said his powerful budget-cutting team could reduce the next fiscal year’s federal budget by $1 trillion, and do it by Sept. 30, the end of the current fiscal year. Instead, in a Cabinet meeting Thursday, Musk said that he anticipated the group would save about $150 billion, 85% less than its objective.
Even that figure may be too high, according to a New York Times analysis of DOGE’s claims.