USA With the iron broom: Musk even fires nuclear personnel
Amid the mass layoffs of civil servants in the US driven by tech billionaire Elon Musk and President Donald Trump, details of the consequences are coming to light. More and more affected citizens are contacting the US media with sometimes bizarre descriptions of how the layoffs took place and what effects they may have. At the same time, a wave of lawsuits is being filed in courts across the country.
15.02.2025, 16:47
SDA
In one particularly striking case, around 300 employees of the US Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) were fired on Thursday night (local time), according to a report by CNN. On Friday, however, the dismissals began to be reversed. Citing anonymous sources, it was also reported that those responsible for the layoffs apparently did not know exactly what the fired employees' duties were.
The NNSA (National Nuclear Security Administration) is part of the Department of Energy and monitors the inventory of thousands of nuclear weapons in the USA. It is responsible for the maintenance and security of the warheads and also oversees the construction of new nuclear weapons. According to a report by public broadcaster NPR, the NNSA is also involved in preventing terrorists and rogue states from acquiring weapons-grade plutonium or uranium.
"No one knows if he's fired"
Tech billionaire Musk's team, known as Doge (Department of Government Efficiency), is currently scouring one US agency after another. US President Donald Trump had tasked Musk with scrutinizing and cutting government spending. Both claim without evidence that, in addition to billions in wasted money, fraud has also been identified. Trump and Musk are not even stopping at the military. The opposition is fuming. "Mr. Musk, this is not a tech startup," says Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer. Musk has no authority to fire civil servants. But the opposition seems rather powerless so far.
Musk's people, according to Trump's description "geniuses in undershirts", are proceeding rigorously, the dismissals come without deadlines, on Friday afternoon alone 388 people were fired from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), according to the Washington Post. A single parent told how her termination notice fluttered in by e-mail at 10.30 pm. A woman from the Department of Housing told how she went to the toilet on Friday - when she returned to her desk, her access had been deleted.
Devastating consequences
Musk's actions led, among other things, to the closure of large areas of the development aid agency USAID - with already devastating consequences for people in need in developing countries. From famine relief in Africa to the reconstruction of Ukraine, the de facto disappearance of the largest donor country in the international community has resulted in a sudden lack of money, personnel and expertise. The US Conference of Catholic Bishops has had to cut 50 jobs due to the lack of government subsidies, as reported by the New York Times.
NPR reported, citing several current and former NNSA employees who did not wish to be named, that many employees had been verbally dismissed and had to vacate their desks immediately. In total, more than 1,000 employees of the Department of Energy are said to have been fired.
Just a few days ago, the White House issued a directive that all employees on temporary contracts and in probationary periods should be dismissed. This could affect up to 200,000 people, although it is not yet clear how many have actually been fired.
Golden handshake for 75,000
According to a calculation by the "Washington Post", 14,000 employees could already have fallen victim to this measure alone. According to the White House, the only certainty is the number of 75,000 civil servants who have voluntarily given up their jobs in return for a severance package.
The reports also provide a glimpse of the apparent chaos that currently prevails in the US authorities. Announced resignation letters have only reached some, according to NPR. "Nobody knows if they're fired or not," the broadcaster quoted an anonymous NNSA employee as saying. On Friday, the layoffs were suspended in part because of the chaos that had ensued, he said.
From ministry to ranger
The spectrum of dismissals includes spectacular and less spectacular cases. According to the Washington Post, for example, hundreds of people in an agency of the Department of Energy who process electricity bills were made redundant. In the Ministry of Finance, 9,000 people who collect taxes are to go. And in the mountainous state of Wyoming, a man has been fired who has been making sure for years that hikers and mountaineers do not set off into the wilderness without suitable equipment.
Why is Trump doing all this? The White House answers this question in general terms. "The president has made it clear that he wants to deliver on the promise to make our government more efficient and productive for the American people," said spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt.
Trump once took office with the credo "jobs, jobs, jobs", but also with the promise to downsize the public administration. However, critics doubt that the whole thing is financially worthwhile. According to the Washington Post, cutting staff by a quarter would only reduce overall public spending by one percent.
Wave of lawsuits rolls in
Whether the measures will stand up in court is unclear. Labor law, civil rights, administrative law, data protection - all of these could be affected. Judges have put a partial and temporary stop to Trump in at least twelve cases. Final decisions are still pending, and legal experts believe that some of the dozens of cases will end up before the Supreme Court, the highest US court. And in his first term of office, Trump has already been able to appoint judges - thanks in part to fortunate coincidences - on whose judgment he believes he can rely.
