➤ President Donald Trump and people working for him have been taking unusual steps to try to shrink the US government. Millions of government workers have been encouraged to quit. Many others have been fired.
US President Donald Trump and people working for him have been taking unusual steps to try to shrink the US government. Millions of government workers have been encouraged to quit. Many others have been fired.
Mr. Trump has long complained about people who work for the US government. Government workers often have special training for the work that they do. Most of their jobs are not political. But Mr. Trump believes that people in the US government have been working against him.
Encouraging Workers to Quit
On January 28, President Trump’s government sent an email to over 2 million US government workers. The email offered the workers a chance to leave their jobs. It claimed that if they accepted the offer, they would get paid until September.
The email said that many US agencies would be getting smaller, and some people might lose their jobs anyway. It also pointed out that government workers who work from home would now be required to work in their offices. Another point the email made was that workers were expected to be “loyal”.
Mr. Trump’s government said the move could save the US up to $100 billion a year.
The email upset many people. Some experts say the offer is illegal. Members of Congress pointed out that only Congress can set aside the money needed for a program like this. Some people worried that if lots of workers left, it could affect important government services. Many workers said they didn’t believe the offer could be trusted, since there were many areas of the deal that weren’t clear.
Still, roughly 40,000 government workers chose to take part in the program.
Firing Government Workers
On February 13, Mr. Trump’s government fired thousands of “probationary” government workers from many different government departments. Probationary government workers are those who have been in their jobs less than a year. That means they don’t have the same protection as people who have been working for the government longer.
It’s still not clear how many people were fired, but there are over 200,000 people who have been with the US government for less than a year.
Mr. Trump has also fired a number of high-level government workers. Some of those fired were people who Mr. Trump believes have treated him unfairly.
Mr. Trump has fired 17 people who had the job of “inspector general”. An inspector general at a government agency makes sure the agency follows the rules. A president may fire an inspector general, but they are supposed to tell Congress why the person is being fired at least 30 days before the person is fired.
In addition to the firings, thousands more government workers have been put “on leave”. That means they can’t work. Often a person is put on leave while a decision is being made about whether they should be fired.