# 2025 United States federal mass layoffs

Tens of thousands of United States federal civil service workers have been laid off or fired since the start of the second presidency of Donald Trump. The Trump administration has called this an effort to reduce federal expenditures, shrink the federal payroll, reduce the ability of the government to regulate industry, reduce the role of government in U.S. society, and increase the power of the presidency. Opponents of the effort say it is a hasty, ill-conceived effort that is reducing crucial and beneficial services and violating the law.
The administration's efforts to shrink the federal workforce have taken place in overlapping stages, including a January executive order seeking to strip thousands of employees of civil-service protections; a January "deferred-resignation" deal; the gutting of several specific agencies, including the United States Agency for International Development and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
The longest-running stage began on the first day of Trump's second term in office: an effort to fire tens of thousands of "probationary employees"—generally, workers hired, transferred, or promoted within the past year. These mass dismissals have been described as unfair, a purge, and creating "risks for Americans and allies nationwide." As of February 22, 2025, about 30,000 workers had been laid off or fired. Several lawsuits allege that the dismissals are illegal. In some cases, the administration rescinded layoff notifications.
A far larger number of federal workers are slated to be dismissed in a series of agency reductions in force (RIF). On February 26, agency leaders were ordered to submit plans for these RIFs by March 14.

## Background

Trump has long sought ways to increase his control of the federal-government workforce. In his first term, he sought to remove civil-service protections for thousands of federal employees by reclassifying their jobs as political positions; his administration moved federal offices in an effort to get workers to quit. During his campaign for a second term, he inveighed against "bureaucrats" and vowed to bring them under control. In tandem, the Heritage Foundation's Project 2025 laid out policies for shrinking government agencies, increasing White House power over the executive branch, casting civil servants as obstructive to conservative agendas, and replacing them with loyalists more willing to enable the next Republican president's policies. "We want the bureaucrats to be traumatically affected," said Project 2025 co-author Russell Vought. "When they wake up in the morning, we want them to not want to go to work because they are increasingly viewed as the villains."
After Trump won election in 2024, he appointed Vought as director of the White House's Office of Management and Budget. He also tapped billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk, the largest single donor to his campaign, to run a new effort, dubbed the Department of Government Efficiency, to carry out mass layoffs and other measures. "We expect mass reductions," then-DOGE-co-chair Vivek Ramaswamy said on November 17. "We expect certain agencies to be deleted outright. We expect mass reductions-in-force in areas of the federal government that are bloated."
When Trump took office, he issued executive orders to rename the United States Digital Service to the "United States DOGE Service" and create "DOGE teams" embedded within federal agencies consisting of at least four employees who would have "full and prompt access to all unclassified agency records, software systems and IT systems" to the "maximum extent consistent with law". The teams could include special government employees. Officially, the group's goal is to advance the "president's DOGE agenda" by "modernizing federal technology and software to maximize governmental efficiency and productivity". The budget of the service was unknown, and several of the employees were expected to be unpaid volunteers.
As of February 4, 2025, $6.75 million had been apportioned to DOGE. Representative Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) observed that this was "nearly twice the annual salaries and expenses budget of the White House". By February 12, the budget had more than doubled to $14.4 million. On November 19, 2024, representatives Aaron Bean (R-FL) and Pete Sessions (R-TX) launched the congressional Delivering Outstanding Government Efficiency Caucus (DOGE Caucus) to support the DOGE mission.
Trump appointed Musk a senior advisor to the president, and the billionaire has played a central role in shaping federal layoffs, advocating for rapid downsizing to eliminate inefficiencies. Musk has pushed for automation and privatization. Musk has posted about and celebrated the terminations on social media. Workers protested Musk in California.

## Implementation

The shrinking of the federal workforce has taken place in several overlapping stages.

### 'Schedule F' stripping of civil-service protections

On January 28, Trump issued an executive order seeking to strip thousands of federal employees of their legal civil-service protections.

### 'Deferred-resignation' deal

On January 28, the administration offered a "deferred-resignation" deal that, by mid-February, about 75,000 federal workers accepted.

### Firings of probationary employees

On February 13, Charles Ezell, acting director of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, signed a directive instructing federal agencies to dismiss probationary employees—generally, federal workers who have held their jobs less than a year or two, or had been promoted into the excepted service during that time. Ezell told agencies to tell the fired employees that their performance was inadequate, and that they needed to cite no evidence.

#### Alleged reasons for termination

Depending on the agency, employees were given notices that read that either the agency "no longer has a need for your services," or it had "determined that you have failed to demonstrate fitness or qualifications for continued employment because your subject matter knowledge, skills and abilities do not meet the department's current needs." Another variant read "unfortunately, the agency finds that you are not fit for continued employment because your ability, knowledge and skills do not fit the Agency's current needs, and your performance has not been adequate to justify further employment at the Agency."
Even though a cause was alleged poor performance, many employees had either received the maximum possible rating or had not had their performance reviewed. Others had received "stellar performance evaluations" the previous year.

#### Rescission of some layoffs

In some cases, the Trump administration subsequently realized that it had laid off people in critical positions and needed to reinstate them, as with Department of Agriculture employees engaged in efforts to combat the spread of the H5N1 bird flu virus and National Nuclear Security Administration employees. Since former federal employees no longer had access to their government email accounts, supervisors were sometimes uncertain how to contact them. The Food and Drug Administration rehired some staff responsible for reviewing medical devices and food safely. Hours after laying off 950 Indian Health Service employees on February 14, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Secretary of Health and Human Services, reinstated them.

#### National Aeronautics and Space Administration

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) was supposed to lay off 10% of its workforce on February 18, after about 750 employees accepted the deferred-resignation deal. Late in the day, the OPM rescinded the termination notice for NASA. Some sources alleged that nominated administrator Jared Isaacman asked to delay the layoffs. NASA advised their employees to delay any interaction with the OPM email sent on February 22.

### Reductions in force

On February 13, OMB Director Vought and OPM Acting Director Ezell ordered federal agencies to send them plans by March 13 to slash their workforces through layoffs. They said the agencies "should focus on employees whose jobs are not required in statute and who face furloughs in government shutdowns—typically around one-third of the federal workforce, or 700,000 employees."

### Email directive mandating role justification

On February 22, 2025, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) sent an email to all federal employees mandating that they justify their roles. The email read "Please reply to this email with approx. 5 bullets of what you accomplished last week and cc your manager. Please do not send any classified information, links, or attachments." Many emails were marked with a red exclamation mark or sent with high importance. In a post on X, Musk added that "failure to respond will be taken as a resignation."
Several agencies, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the State Department, the Defense Department, and the Department of Health and Human Services, told their employees to "pause" any response to the email. Judges and judiciary staff who received the email were advised by the Administrative Office of the US Courts to take "no action" in response, with Bloomberg Law noting that "The emails to judges and federal court employees could represent an improper intrusion into the judiciary by the executive branch, in breach of the Constitution's mandated separation of powers." One employee union, the American Federation of Government Employees, challenged the OPM's legal authority to require responses. Another union, the National Federation of Federal Employees, said that it would contest any disciplinary actions linked to the directive.
On February 24, OPM stated that responding to the initial email was voluntary. However, Musk tweeted that if employees still refused to respond, it would "result in termination".
On Feb 27, 2025, Judge William Alsup ruled that OPM does not have the authority to fires non-OPM employees and ordered the OPM memos rescinded, though the ruling does not reinstate any dismissed employees.
   "The Office of Personnel Management does not have any authority whatsoever under any statute in the history of the universe, to hire and fire employees within another agency. It can hire its own employees, yes. Can fire them. But it cannot order or direct some other agency to do so...OPM has no authority to tell any agency in the United States government, other than itself, who they can hire and who they can fire, period. So on the merits, I think, we start with that important proposition.
House Republican Rich McCormick was booed at a town hall in Georgia as he defended the administration's actions.

## Agencies
### Agency for International Development

On January 24, 2025, President Donald Trump ordered a near-total freeze on the distribution of foreign aid. Several days later, Secretary of State Marco Rubio issued a waiver for humanitarian aid. Despite the waiver, there was still much confusion about what agencies should do.
The Trump administration fired nearly all United States Agency for International Development employees—both civil and foreign service—by placing nearly everyone on administrative leave to cut the workforce from over 10,000 to roughly 300, disrupting humanitarian programs and prompting lawsuits from groups like the American Foreign Service Association.
More than 1,000 Agency for International Development (USAID) employees and contractors were fired or furloughed after the freeze. Matt Hopson, the USAID chief of staff appointed by the Trump administration, resigned. It was announced that on February 6, 2025, at 11:59 pm (EST) all USAID direct-hire employees would be placed on administrative leave, except designated people responsible for mission-critical functions, core leadership, and specially designated programs. On February 6, the number of retained employees was reported to be 294 out of 10,000.

#### Criticism

The actions of the Trump administration also caused frustration among conservatives. Andrew Natsios, the administrator for USAID during the George W. Bush administration, told PBS that, "With all due respect, none of these people know anything about AID. What does Musk know about international development? Absolutely nothing. He has a bunch of young kids in their 20s. They don't know. They're techies. They don't know anything about international development. They don't know anything about the Global South. They don't know anything about these—the programs and policies of the agency. AID is the most pro-business and pro-market of all aid agencies in the world. I can tell you that categorically. I am a conservative Republican. I'm not a liberal. And I have served in repeated Republican administrations."

### Department of Transportation
#### Federal Aviation Administration

In February 2025, the Trump administration fired several hundred Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) employees, primarily those in their probationary period. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said about 400 employees were affected, none of whom were air traffic controllers or held critical safety positions. However, the Professional Aviation Safety Specialists union said the firings included maintenance mechanics and aviation safety assistants: "More than 130 of the eliminated workers held jobs that directly or indirectly support the air traffic controllers, facilities and technologies that the FAA uses to keep planes and their passengers safe," as Politico put it. These actions have drawn criticism, especially in the wake of a January fatal mid-air collision near Washington, D.C.

### Environmental Protection Agency

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) terminated over 300 probationary employees—including staff tasked with enforcing regulations under the Clean Air and Clean Water Acts and reviewing environmental permits—which could delay critical oversight functions and compromise timely responses to pollution and disaster events. In some regions, decisions were later partially reversed, highlighting administrative inconsistencies amid broader federal workforce cuts. Analysts caution that these staffing reductions may hinder the agency's capacity to maintain environmental safeguards and public health protections during a period of significant regulatory review and enforcement challenges.
Federal workers have protested and spoken out against the firings of EPA employees. The actions affected EPA employees throughout the United States including in North Carolina and Ohio.

### Department of Defense

On February 20, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced plans to fire some of the department's probationary employees—about 5,400 of the department's 55,000, officials said later. Hegseth said he would then impose a hiring freeze and begin planning a 5- to 8-percent cut of the department’s roughly 760,000-person civilian workforce. On March 3, department officials began placing probationary employees on administrative leave, telling Congress that they intended to fire the workers within 14 to 21 days.

### Department of Agriculture

A total of 5,600 USDA employees were fired in early 2025.

#### Natural Resources Conservation Service

The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) fired about 1,200 employees in Oklahoma, Idaho, and Kansas. The cuts affected NRCS' conservation planners, natural resources scientists, and technical roles that supported implementing soil and water conservation projects, among other things. This reduction jeopardizes critical technical assistance for farmers and ranchers, potentially disrupting efforts to mitigate soil erosion and maintain sustainable agricultural practices. The mass layoffs of Department of Agriculture (USDA) scientists have disrupted critical agricultural research, including projects on climate impact, pest control, and conservation practices, potentially undermining billions in taxpayer-funded farm subsidies. Experts warn that these cuts will hinder the USDA's ability to implement key climate policies and waste resources already invested in long-term scientific studies.

#### Forest Service

The Trump administration fired about 3,400 U.S. Forest Service (USFS) employees, primarily probationary employees constituting about 10% of its workforce. Experts warn that this will impair efforts to prevent wildfires and restore forests, leaving critical tasks such as trail maintenance, watershed protection, and fuel reduction understaffed and potentially driving up homeowner insurance costs in vulnerable areas. Concerns were expressed by political leaders in Colorado.

### Department of the Interior

The Trump administration fired about 2,300 employees from the Department of the Interior, including about 800 from the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). Some argue that these layoffs could hurt the management of public lands, with concerns about reduced capacity for essential functions such as wildfire response and land-use planning. The Guardian interviewed people who received termination notices.

#### National Park Service

About 1,000 National Park Service (NPS) employees were fired, including maintenance workers and scientists. The move raised concerns about staffing shortages, potentially reducing park workforces by up to 20%. Critics argue that these layoffs could undermine park operations, disrupt conservation efforts, and reduce visitor services, especially with peak season approaching. The affected areas include major parks such as Yosemite, where protests have erupted over fears of park closures, waste management issues, and increased hazards due to reduced staffing. Additionally, the Golden Gate National Recreation Area in the Bay Area has experienced terminations, leading to concerns about operational challenges in maintaining the park's 82,000 acres and accommodating its 15.6 million annual visitors.

### Department of Veterans Affairs

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) dismissed over 1,000 probationary employees, including researchers focused on mental health, cancer treatments, addiction recovery, prosthetics, and burn pit exposure. Lawmakers such as Sen. Patty Murray and Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz have criticized the decision, expressing concerns over potential staffing shortages and its impact on veteran care.

### Department of Health and Human Services

About 5,200 probationary employees at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) received termination notices, with around 1,300 from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and others from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The Trump administration terminated dozens of researchers at a leading Alzheimer's research center under the NIH. Critics argue that these cuts could slow critical advancements in dementia treatment, jeopardizing ongoing clinical trials and research into potential cures.

### Department of the Treasury
#### Internal Revenue Service

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) fired about 6,000 to 7,000 probationary employees. These layoffs, occurring during the peak tax-filing season, have raised concerns about potential delays in tax return processing, reduced customer service, and diminished enforcement capabilities during a critical period. These actions have prompted criticism from tax professionals and lawmakers, who fear that the downsizing may erode taxpayer compliance and confidence in the tax system as well as significantly reducing the amount of revenue collected by the IRS. The administration also plans to transfer some IRS employees to the Department of Homeland Security for immigration enforcement. At least 120 employees were fired from the Large Business and International division of the IRS, which audits individuals and companies with more than $10 million in assets and whose audits recoup large amounts of money for the IRS.

### Department of Energy

About 1,200 to 2,000 Department of Energy (DOE) employees were fired, affecting critical areas such as the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), the Loan Programs Office, and power grid management. These layoffs raised concerns about the stability of the nation's nuclear security and energy infrastructure. For instance, less than 50 NNSA employees were dismissed, prompting fears over nuclear safety and operational continuity. Energy Secretary Chris Wright later admitted mistakes were made in firing NNSA employees. The Washington Post reported that the firings created a crisis at the agency.

#### Bonneville Power Administration

In February 2025, about 130 of the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA)'s 3,000-plus employees were fired, with an additional 300 positions eliminated through buyouts and early retirements, totaling nearly 20% of its workforce. These cuts raised concerns about the reliability of the Pacific Northwest's electrical grid, as BPA manages a substantial portion of the region's power infrastructure. In response to public outcry and potential risks to grid stability, the administration reinstated 30 critical employees responsible for maintaining high-voltage power lines. Some Washington state leaders have criticized the firings.

### Department of Education

The Department of Education implemented workforce reductions, including layoffs at the Office for Civil Rights, which investigates discrimination complaints in schools.

### Federal Reserve
#### Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

Russell Vought launched mass layoffs that threatened to cut up to 1,750 employees, or about 95% of its workforce. Reports indicated that between 70 and 100 term employees had already been dismissed as part of this purge.

### General Services Administration

Elon Musk announced on X that 18F "has been deleted," hinting at its demise before the Trump administration fired roughly 90 federal technologists. The affected employees, part of the General Services Administration's 18F team, were notified around midnight that their roles were being eliminated as part of an agency reduction-in-force. 18F, established during the Obama era to modernize government software, was dismantled in this push for modernization.

### Merit Systems Protection Board

The United States Merit Systems Protection Board is an independent U.S. federal government agency whose function is to protect career civil service employees from arbitrary firings. In February 2025, Trump removed a Democratic member of the board, Cathy Harris, who had served three years of her term, and demoted the other Democratic member. Harris then sued the Trump administration, alleging that her removal was illegal. In March 2025, a U.S. District judge, citing U.S. Supreme Court cases from 1933 and 1953, entered a permanent injunction ordering that she be reinstated.

## Dismissals by agency

| Entity | Parent agency | Approximate number of employees laid off |
| United States Agency for International Development (USAID) | to become part of the Department of State | 10,000 |
| Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) | Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) | 50 |
| Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) | Department of Agriculture (USDA) | 1,200 |
| U.S. Forest Service (USFS) | Department of Agriculture (USDA) | 3,400 |
| Department of Commerce (DOC) | Department of Commerce (DOC) | 500 |
| National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) | Department of Commerce (DOC) | 800 |
| Department of Defense (DOD) | Department of Defense (DOD) | 5,400 |
| Department of Education (ED) | Department of Education (ED) | 60 |
| Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) | Department of Energy (DOE) | 400 |
| National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) | Department of Energy (DOE) | 50–300 |
| Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) | Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) | 5,200 |
| Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) | Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) | 1,300 |
| Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) | Department of Homeland Security (DHS) | 50 |
| Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) | Department of Homeland Security (DHS) | 130 |
| Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) | Department of Homeland Security (DHS) | 200 |
| Transportation Security Administration (TSA) | Department of Homeland Security (DHS) | 200 |
| Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) | Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) | 4,000 |
| Department of Justice (DOJ) | Department of Justice (DOJ) | 12 |
| Department of Labor (DOL) | Department of Labor (DOL) | |
| Department of State (DOS) | Department of State (DOS) | |
| Department of the Interior (DOI) | Department of the Interior (DOI) | 2,300 |
| Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) | Department of the Interior (DOI) | 85 |
| Bureau of Land Management (BLM) | Department of the Interior (DOI) | 800 |
| National Institutes of Health (NIH) | Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) | 1,200 |
| National Park Service (NPS) | Department of the Interior (DOI) | 1,000 |
| Internal Revenue Service (IRS) | Department of the Treasury (Treasury) | 7,000 |
| Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) | Department of Transportation (DOT) | 400 |
| Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) | Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) | 1,000 |
| Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) | Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) | 388 |
| White House (WH) | Executive Office of the President (EOP) | |
| U.S. Digital Service (USDS) | Executive Office of the President (EOP) | 50 |
| Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) | Department of Justice (DOJ) | |
| Federal Communications Commission (FCC) | Federal Communications Commission (FCC) | |
| Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) | Federal Reserve (the Fed) | 73 |
| Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) | Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) | 170 |
| Federal Reserve (the Fed) | Federal Reserve (the Fed) | |
| Federal Trade Commission (FTC) | Federal Trade Commission (FTC) | |
| National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) | National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) | |
| Office of Personnel Management (OPM) | Office of Personnel Management (OPM) | 70 |
| Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) | Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) | |
| Social Security Administration (SSA) | Social Security Administration (SSA) | 41 |
| Food and Drug Administration (FDA) | Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) | 700 |
| 18F | General Services Administration (GSA) | 90 |
| Voice of America (VOA) | US Agency for Global Media (USAGM) | 20 |

## Lawsuits

Several entities have sued the Trump administration over the mass layoffs.

### Employee unions lawsuit in U.S. District Court in DC

On February 13, 2025, several employee unions filed suit against the administration, alleging that the "mass firing of employees and the attempt to force resignations across the federal civilian workforce violate separation of powers principles." The unions include the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU), the National Federation of Federal Employees, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, and the United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America. NTEU President Doreen Greenwald said, "There is no doubt that the administration's actions are an illegal end-run on Congress, which has the sole power to create and oversee federal agencies."
On February 20, District of Columbia district court judge Christopher R. Cooper rejected the unions' suit, ruling that federal law required them to bring their challenge to the Federal Labor Relations Authority rather than a federal court. Musk celebrated the judge's ruling by posting photos of himself carrying a chainsaw at CPAC to his X account, claiming that he was helping people by shifting them "from low to negative productivity jobs in the government sector to high productivity roles in the commercial sector".

### Employee unions lawsuit in U.S. District Court in California

On February 19, 2025, five labor unions and five nonprofit organizations filed a complaint in U.S. District Court in California. On February 27, U.S. District Judge William Alsup granted temporary relief, finding that the mass firings of probationary employees were likely illegal. On March 13, Alsup ordered the Defense Department and several other agencies to reinstate the employees, saying, ""It’s a sad, sad day when our government would fire a good employee and say it’s based on performance when they know good and well that is based on a lie".

### USAID lawsuit

A lawsuit was filed on February 6 by the American Foreign Service Association and the American Federation of Government Employees in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, requesting a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction against the administration, claiming that it violated separation of powers, the Take Care Clause of the Constitution, and the Administrative Procedure Act and requesting that all attempts to shut down the agency be halted, all recent actions be reversed, and a new acting director be appointed.
The following day, U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols, nominated by President Trump in 2019, entered a temporary restraining order, pausing the government's plan to put thousands of employees on leave and accelerate removal of overseas workers. The restraining order was initially valid for one week and was extended for a second week. Though Nichols had argued that Trump's actions threaten the safety of USAID workers abroad (many of whom are deployed in unstable regions), on February 21, he decided not to further extend his restraining order.

### CFPB lawsuit

In response to layoffs at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, employee unions and advocacy groups—including the National Treasury Employees Union and the NAACP—filed a lawsuit challenging Vought's sweeping actions. The suit argued that terminating such a vast majority of the workforce would dismantle the CFPB's statutory mission and violate due process rights. Consequently, U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson issued a temporary restraining order that halted further terminations, prevented the destruction or removal of sensitive data, and blocked the transfer of reserve funds until a preliminary injunction hearing could be held.

### Merit Systems Protection Board lawsuit

In February 2025, Trump removed a member of the United States Merit Systems Protection Board, Cathy Harris. Harris then sued. In March 2025, a U.S. District judge ordered that she be reinstated.

### Class action lawsuits

Thousands of federal employees have joined class action suits challenging the layoffs.

## Impact

Harvard Business School professor Amy Edmondson said that the layoffs also affect remaining workers. "The impact is intimidation and fear". Russell Vought, director of the Office of Management and Budget, had said before the election that "We want the bureaucrats to be traumatically affected. When they wake up in the morning, we want them to not want to go to work.... We want to put them in trauma."

### Protests
#### National parks

Several National Park Service employees at Yosemite National Park rappelled down the face of El Capitan, a 3,000 foot granite monolith in the park, and hung a 30 foot by 50 foot upside-down US flag as a distress signal. The group stated "The purpose of this exercise of free speech is to disrupt without violence and draw attention to the fact that public lands in the United States are under attack. ... Firing 1,000s of staff regardless of position or performance across the nation is the first step in destabilizing the protections in place for these great places."

#### Tesla protests

Protests happened outside Tesla stores nationwide in response to significant federal layoffs led by Elon Musk. Demonstrations have occurred in cities such as New York, Jacksonville, and Tucson, with participants criticizing Musk's role in implementing substantial cuts to the federal workforce. In New York City, nine individuals were arrested during a protest at a Tesla store, reflecting the intensity of public sentiment. The "Tesla Takedown" movement has gained momentum, with activists urging the public to divest from Tesla and participate in picket lines to challenge the administration's focus on financial and power interests.

## Reaction

Some federal workers who voted for Trump and were fired have given interviews in the news media. An article in Christianity Today covered the impact of the layoffs on Christians.

### Congressional town hall meetings

Many constituents turned out to town hall meetings held by members of Congress in February, 2025, and voiced their concerns and anger about the mass layoffs. The Republican leadership in the House of Representatives suggested that members stop holding town halls or use video town halls, as a means of preventing viral video clips of constituents confronting their representatives.