Trump voters lose government jobs
Trump voters lose government jobs
JAMES RAINEY
Los Angeles Times Mar 2, 2025
They voted for Donald Trump for president and for a change in the direction of the federal government, but this wasn't the kind of change they had in mind.
Laid off from their U.S. government jobs in recent days, Trump voters expressed dismay at what they said was the administration's unfocused, counterproductive and callous slashing of the federal workforce.
Rather than advancing the efficiency Trump said he desires, the fired workers said taxpayers will be losing important services that, for example, helped military veterans cope with financial hardships, searched for drought and pest-tolerant crops and assured that medical providers got Medicare reimbursements.
Some of the workers appealed to get their jobs back, while others said they are not sure what to do — deeply discouraged that their attempts at public service appeared to be spurned by the new president and some of the public.
"I was thinking that there would be changes," said a Department of Agriculture researcher in the mid-Atlantic region. "But instead of being focused, this is just going completely off the rails, chopping and slicing up parts of the government that are protecting Americans."
The worker — who asked to remain anonymous to increase his chances of regaining his job — said he twice voted for Trump and was disturbed at how much authority over government reductions the president turned over to his chief cost-cutter, Elon Musk.
"They are just in this shock-and-awe mode, with no concern about all the damage that is being done," the employee said. He was let go, despite more than a decade at USDA, because a shift to a new job position technically made him a probationary employee, subject to removal. "No one is asking how they are going to put all this, to put Humpty-Dumpty, back together again," he said.
Trump and Musk and their supporters argue that deeply entrenched government workers have, in many cases, been doing more harm than good. They say only bold action will help reform the bureaucracy and bring about lasting change.
The Trump administration earlier reported that more than 75,000 federal workers accepted a buyout offer — agreeing to leave immediately but get paid through September. An independent tracking service found more than 31,000 other probationary workers were targeted for cuts, including 6,700 at the Internal Revenue Service, 5,400 at the Defense Department, 5,200 at the Department of Health and Human Services and 3,500 at the U.S. Forest Service.
The Trump administration backed off another job-cutting move. It said the National Park Service would be able to hire 7,700 seasonal employees after earlier sending notices that extra employees, who run parks in the high-traffic spring and summer seasons, would not be brought on board.
"President Trump and his administration are delivering on the American people's mandate to eliminate wasteful spending and make federal agencies more efficient, which includes removing probationary employees who are not mission critical," said Anna Kelly, an assistant press secretary for the White House.
Trump signaled that, if anything, he would like even bolder reductions in government. "Elon is doing a great job, but I would like to see him get more aggressive," he wrote on his Truth Social website.
He also posted an image of the cartoon character SpongeBob SquarePants that appeared to mock the plight of federal workers, whom Musk asked to enumerate their job accomplishments of the prior week. The post implied the workers did little, other than "read some emails" and "cried about Trump" and "cried about Elon."
Jocelyn Steward, a health insurance specialist with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, said she thought the Trump administration lost focus on the proper priorities.
Steward, who voted for Trump for president in three straight elections, said she believed job cuts would focus on early retirements and workers who underperformed. But she lost her job, helping military veterans and other understand their benefits, even though she was just in training and had met all her job requirements.
"Layoffs aren't easy on anybody.
But there has been zero compassion for anything or anyone in this process," said Steward, who lives and works in Georgia. "A lot of these federal workers are doing good work. Please just show a little empathy."
Steward said she consistently voted as a Democrat but felt that, as a Black woman, the party took her vote for granted. Hoping for change, she voted for Trump in 2016, 2020 and last year. She says she now feels Musk helped lead the president astray.
"I would love to see Trump remove him and put himself back in complete charge," she said. "I believe it's going to ruin his presidency."
Steward said the Republicans had not focused on some of the issues they emphasized during the campaign, particularly inflation.
"There is still a problem with jobs, having enough higher paying jobs, and bringing down the price of goods and services that normal Americans have to deal with on a day-to-day basis," she said. "There has been nothing done on that. And that's where I am really upset, probably even more so than losing my job.
JAMES RAINEY
Los Angeles Times Mar 2, 2025
They voted for Donald Trump for president and for a change in the direction of the federal government, but this wasn't the kind of change they had in mind.
Laid off from their U.S. government jobs in recent days, Trump voters expressed dismay at what they said was the administration's unfocused, counterproductive and callous slashing of the federal workforce.
Rather than advancing the efficiency Trump said he desires, the fired workers said taxpayers will be losing important services that, for example, helped military veterans cope with financial hardships, searched for drought and pest-tolerant crops and assured that medical providers got Medicare reimbursements.
Some of the workers appealed to get their jobs back, while others said they are not sure what to do — deeply discouraged that their attempts at public service appeared to be spurned by the new president and some of the public.
"I was thinking that there would be changes," said a Department of Agriculture researcher in the mid-Atlantic region. "But instead of being focused, this is just going completely off the rails, chopping and slicing up parts of the government that are protecting Americans."
The worker — who asked to remain anonymous to increase his chances of regaining his job — said he twice voted for Trump and was disturbed at how much authority over government reductions the president turned over to his chief cost-cutter, Elon Musk.
"They are just in this shock-and-awe mode, with no concern about all the damage that is being done," the employee said. He was let go, despite more than a decade at USDA, because a shift to a new job position technically made him a probationary employee, subject to removal. "No one is asking how they are going to put all this, to put Humpty-Dumpty, back together again," he said.
Trump and Musk and their supporters argue that deeply entrenched government workers have, in many cases, been doing more harm than good. They say only bold action will help reform the bureaucracy and bring about lasting change.
The Trump administration earlier reported that more than 75,000 federal workers accepted a buyout offer — agreeing to leave immediately but get paid through September. An independent tracking service found more than 31,000 other probationary workers were targeted for cuts, including 6,700 at the Internal Revenue Service, 5,400 at the Defense Department, 5,200 at the Department of Health and Human Services and 3,500 at the U.S. Forest Service.
The Trump administration backed off another job-cutting move. It said the National Park Service would be able to hire 7,700 seasonal employees after earlier sending notices that extra employees, who run parks in the high-traffic spring and summer seasons, would not be brought on board.
"President Trump and his administration are delivering on the American people's mandate to eliminate wasteful spending and make federal agencies more efficient, which includes removing probationary employees who are not mission critical," said Anna Kelly, an assistant press secretary for the White House.
Trump signaled that, if anything, he would like even bolder reductions in government. "Elon is doing a great job, but I would like to see him get more aggressive," he wrote on his Truth Social website.
He also posted an image of the cartoon character SpongeBob SquarePants that appeared to mock the plight of federal workers, whom Musk asked to enumerate their job accomplishments of the prior week. The post implied the workers did little, other than "read some emails" and "cried about Trump" and "cried about Elon."
Jocelyn Steward, a health insurance specialist with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, said she thought the Trump administration lost focus on the proper priorities.
Steward, who voted for Trump for president in three straight elections, said she believed job cuts would focus on early retirements and workers who underperformed. But she lost her job, helping military veterans and other understand their benefits, even though she was just in training and had met all her job requirements.
"Layoffs aren't easy on anybody.
But there has been zero compassion for anything or anyone in this process," said Steward, who lives and works in Georgia. "A lot of these federal workers are doing good work. Please just show a little empathy."
Steward said she consistently voted as a Democrat but felt that, as a Black woman, the party took her vote for granted. Hoping for change, she voted for Trump in 2016, 2020 and last year. She says she now feels Musk helped lead the president astray.
"I would love to see Trump remove him and put himself back in complete charge," she said. "I believe it's going to ruin his presidency."
Steward said the Republicans had not focused on some of the issues they emphasized during the campaign, particularly inflation.
"There is still a problem with jobs, having enough higher paying jobs, and bringing down the price of goods and services that normal Americans have to deal with on a day-to-day basis," she said. "There has been nothing done on that. And that's where I am really upset, probably even more so than losing my job.
