Three-thousand six-hundred probationary Health and Human Services (HHS) workers are reportedly out of a job as the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) shines a light on government waste.
DOGE reportedly laid off the employees on Friday. However, many were excluded from the layoffs, according to Fox News.
The move may result in taxpayers saving approximately $600 million dollars every year, the outlet said, adding that over half of HHS’s probationary workers remained with the agency.
The outlet continued:
DOGE identified critical employees by first considering key functions of HHS — frontline healthcare providers, scientists conducting innovative research, personnel responding to emergencies – followed by employee roles, including work history, background, and job title screenings.
“In many cases where there was a lack of clarity, we worked directly with folks who either knew the employees or knew the work of the division to clarify the exact work they were doing,” a Trump administration official said.
In addition, over 65,000 federal workers reportedly accepted President Donald Trump’s recent buyout offer, Breitbart News reported on Monday.
DOGE, which is lead by Elon Musk, has been working to “downsize the size of government, tallying up wins for the American taxpayers in a variety of ways, including the termination of federal diversity, equity, and inclusion contracts, ‘consulting’ contracts, and federal subscriptions to establishment news organizations,” the report said.
However, DOGE’s audits have enraged Democrats, who are ready to shut down the government in the upcoming spending fight, per Breitbart News.
“The Democrats’ tactic puts them into a precarious position of supporting waste, fraud, and abuse, three items DOGE is tasked with cutting,” the outlet reported on Tuesday.
“Democrats are particularly upset DOGE gained access to the federal payment system at the Treasury Department to monitor outflows of taxpayer funds. They are also angered about President Donald Trump’s decision to essentially defund many agencies, such as USAID, and lay off staffers,” the article continued.
During an interview on Wednesday, David Walker, who served as head of the Government Accountability Office from 1998 to 2008, said DOGE is doing what “needs to be done” while also calling for more transparency by the department to improve effectiveness, credibility, and enhance public trust, according to Breitbart News.
