1. United States
2. N.D.
3. Letter

In the guise of an effort to reduce government spending, Trump signed an executive order on Feb 11th implementing a “workforce optimization initiative” to be rolled out by unelected billionaire Elon Musk and his questionably legal DOGE team. Since then, DOGE has laid off thousands of dedicated federal employees across a wide range of government agencies. Workforces that have been reduced include FEMA (right after multiple natural disasters), the IRS (just in time for tax season), the CDC (in the middle of a bird flu crisis, a measles outbreak, and a tuberculosis outbreak), the Department of Defense, the Department of Education, the Department of Veterans Affairs, the US Forest Service, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and the FAA and TSA (after multiple fatal plane crashes). Many of these layoffs were so ill-conceived that agencies then scrambled to rehire those fired, including the critical staff who manage our nuclear weapons. It has also become clear that many of these firings were personal for Musk, as they included workers investigating Musk’s various companies. Congress needs to step up to protect these federal workers and stop Trump’s unconstitutional overreach of power. Protect our federal workforce and stop the chaos!