American President Donald Trump has signed an executive order to reduce the size of the US government in line with the initiatives of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) headed by Elon Musk.
The executive order involves a significant reduction in the staffing of US departments and government agencies.
Agencies will be able to hire no more than one employee for every four employees who leave federal service. Before this, employees of US government agencies were offered to resign for compensation of eight salaries and retention of some benefits for eight months.
Earlier, the court blocked Trump’s plan to recall USAID employees overseas.
On February 7, the media reported that the White House will fire 97% of USAID employees worldwide, leaving only 294 specialists. The mass layoffs will come amid the closure of the agency’s Washington headquarters. Billionaire Elon Musk, who heads the US government efficiency department created under Trump, noted that the agency is in the process of closing down in order to cut costs.
During a meeting with Donald Trump, Musk also criticised the US bureaucracy, calling it the “fourth and unelected branch of government” and accused federal employees of illicit enrichment.
Trump backed him up, saying the Musk-led department had discovered billions of dollars in losses due to inefficient spending and kickbacks, which could be as high as $1 trillion.
