New Delhi: US President Donald Trump has reportedly started preparing for large-scale layoffs as part of a broader effort to cut government spending. At the first cabinet meeting, Chief Elon Musk unveiled plans to reduce this year’s USD6.7 trillion budget by USD1 trillion, a decision that could affect government programs. However, it is important to note that Donald Trump has reaffirmed that health and retirement benefits, which make up nearly half of the budget, would remain untouched.
“We’re not going to touch it,” said Donald Trump, whose extensive government overhaul has already resulted in over 20,000 job cuts, a freeze on foreign aid, and interruptions to construction projects and scientific research.
“If this continues, the country will go de facto bankrupt,” Musk said at the cabinet meeting, where he was seen wearing a black “Make America Great Again” baseball cap and a t-shirt that read “tech support.”
According to the reports, Donald Trump has also asked Congress to extend the 2017 tax cuts, his key legislative achievement from his first term, which are set to expire at the end of this year. The nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget estimates that these cuts added USD2.5 trillion to the national debt, now at USD36 trillion, and that the proposed extensions could exceed USD 5 trillion over the next decade.
The job cuts have primarily affected probationary workers without full employment protections. The Trump administration is now planning deeper cuts that will impact career employees.
A memo released before the cabinet meeting called for a “significant reduction” in the workforce but did not specify the number of layoffs. So far, 100,000 of the country’s 2.3 million civilian federal workers have either accepted a buyout or been dismissed.
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