The administration of US President Donald Trump on Friday showed no signs of abandoning its plan for a second wave of mass layoffs and budget cuts in the US government after two federal court rulings ordered the reinstatement of thousands of employees, UNN writes with reference to Reuters.
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Despite this, US Vice President Jay D. Vance admitted on Friday that mistakes were made during the staff reduction process, which has been proceeding at a frantic pace since Trump took office in January.
On Thursday, federal agencies faced a deadline to submit large-scale reorganization plans as part of Trump's quest to radically overhaul the federal bureaucracy, a task he largely entrusted to Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
So far, DOGE's efforts have resulted in potential cuts of more than 100,000 jobs among 2.3 million federal civilian employees, a freeze on foreign aid and the cancellation of thousands of programs and contracts.
DOGE's approach has sometimes been so controversial that key federal officials, such as those overseeing the nation's nuclear stockpile and scientists fighting bird flu, have been fired and recalled, the publication points out.
At the same time, financial markets have been shaken by economic risks caused by the global trade war waged by Trump. Stock markets have fallen sharply in the past two weeks, wiping out $5 trillion over fears that Trump's policies could lead to a recession, although Wall Street stocks rose on Friday.
Vance said on Friday that Musk's DOGE sometimes made mistakes, and defended most federal employees as hardworking.
"Elon himself has said that sometimes you do something, you make a mistake, and then you fix it. I accept mistakes," Vance said in an interview with NBC News.
"I also believe that these mistakes need to be corrected quickly. But I am also well aware of the fact that there are many good people working in the government - many people who are doing a very good job," Vance said. - And we want to try to keep as much as possible of what works in the government, and at the same time eliminate what doesn't work".
Federal court rulings in California and Maryland on Thursday ordered some agencies to reinstate thousands of employees who were on probation and were fired in recent weeks.
The White House, calling the judges partisan activists, vowed to fight back. The California ruling has already been appealed, and the administration has asked the judge to suspend the court order pending the outcome.
"This ban is absolutely unconstitutional," White House spokeswoman Caroline Levitt said on Friday. - It is unacceptable for a lower-level district court judge to file an injunction to usurp the executive power of the President of the United States".
Together with Musk, the world's richest man, Trump signed an executive order on February 11 ordering all agencies to "immediately begin preparing to initiate large-scale headcount reductions," using a legal term commonly referred to as RIF to refer to mass layoffs.
A subsequent memorandum from the US Office of Personnel Management states that plans should include "significant reductions" in staff, reduced real estate, a smaller budget, and the elimination of functions not required by law.
The US Internal Revenue Service (IRS), a tax agency that has long been the subject of Republican scorn, plans to cut 20-25% of its staff by May 15, according to a person familiar with the agency's plans. At the time Trump took office, the IRS employed approximately 100,000 people, meaning that approximately 25,000 people will lose their jobs.
The Trump administration has not yet named the total number of people it has fired, but Reuters reports on internal memos, public statements and other sources, counting more than 100,000 people fired or offered a "buyout," with the Department of Veterans Affairs alone aiming to cut more than 80,000 employees.