Federal staff who haven’t confronted the chopping block are receiving blended messages from billionaire Elon Musk, President Donald Trump, and his administration.
On one hand, the chainsaw-wielding Musk, who leads the Division of Authorities Effectivity, doubled down on his ultimatum to 2.3 million federal staff: Inform him what they did final week, or else.
However then Trump seemingly walked again the walk-back, endorsing Musk’s ultimatum.
“By asking the question, ‘Tell us what you did this week,’ what [Musk is] doing is saying, ‘Are you actually working?’” Trump mentioned throughout a public assembly with French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday. “And then if you don’t answer, like, you’re sort of semi-fired or you’re fired because a lot of people are not answering because they don’t even exist.”
“I thought it was great because we have people that don’t show up to work and nobody even knows if they work for the government,” Trump added, with out citing proof.
As Musk, the newly minted father of 13, callously slashes American jobs, even his typical supporters are beginning to waver.
On the finish of a section on the confusion surrounding Musk’s risk to staff, White Home correspondent Madeleine Rivera mentioned, “We’ll see if we get more clarity later today.”
Leaping on the chance to criticize, Doocy replied, “See, that last word: clarity. There hasn’t been a lot of that. Madeleine, so for the federal employees who are watching right now: What are they supposed to do?”
Elon Musk
As Every day Kos has beforehand reported, infuriated voters on each side of the aisle are exhibiting up at city halls demanding solutions over the federal job cuts.
Kilmeade took to Monday’s “Fox & Friends” to acknowledge how “real” the anger is from these folks, noting that even Trump’s voters are “casualties” of those spending cuts.
“The blowback they’re getting in some of these town halls is real. I’m sure there’s some people in there that voted for Trump and said, ‘I walked into work and I lost my job,’” he mentioned on air. “But that’s going to be one of the casualties of having to take a $2.7 million federal workforce and knock it down to maybe half of that.” (Kilmeade seemingly misspoke right here, probably which means “2.7 million federal workers”—which is nearly right—and never “$2.7 million federal workforce.”)
Already, Trump and his “first buddy” have confronted a harsh response from shedding staff on the Federal Aviation Administration simply days after a lethal crash within the Washington, D.C., space. They’ve additionally slashed the workforce that oversees the nation’s nationwide parks, which prompted protests at Yosemite Nationwide Park.
Within the midst of their firing frenzy, DOGE canned specialists who have been dealing with the response to the rise of avian flu in addition to staff who oversee the U.S.’s stockpile of nuclear weapons.
Having speedy remorse, the Trump administration has tried to rehire staff from these teams.
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