Trump orders more layoffs, Musk touts cuts at cabinet meeting | The Business Standard
Skip to main content
  • Latest
  • Economy
    • Banking
    • Stocks
    • Industry
    • Analysis
    • Bazaar
    • RMG
    • Corporates
    • Aviation
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • Subscribe
    • Get the Paper
    • Epaper
    • GOVT. Ad
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
The Business Standard

Tuesday
July 22, 2025

Sign In
Subscribe
  • Latest
  • Economy
    • Banking
    • Stocks
    • Industry
    • Analysis
    • Bazaar
    • RMG
    • Corporates
    • Aviation
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • Subscribe
    • Get the Paper
    • Epaper
    • GOVT. Ad
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
TUESDAY, JULY 22, 2025
Trump orders more layoffs, Musk touts cuts at cabinet meeting

USA

Reuters
27 February, 2025, 07:40 am
Last modified: 27 February, 2025, 07:55 am

Related News

  • Trump administration urges court to unseal Epstein docs
  • US judge weighs putting new block on Trump's birthright citizenship order
  • Tesla IT exec with no traditional car-sales experience is running sales: sources
  • Trump says Coca-Cola agreed to use real cane sugar in US
  • SpaceX to invest $2 billion in Musk's xAI startup: WSJ

Trump orders more layoffs, Musk touts cuts at cabinet meeting

A new memo instructed agencies to submit plans by March 13 for a "significant reduction" in staffing to a federal workforce already reeling from waves of layoffs and program cuts

Reuters
27 February, 2025, 07:40 am
Last modified: 27 February, 2025, 07:55 am
Elon Musk attends the first cabinet meeting hosted by US President Donald Trump, in Washington, DC, US, February 26, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Brian Snyder
Elon Musk attends the first cabinet meeting hosted by US President Donald Trump, in Washington, DC, US, February 26, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Brian Snyder

US President Donald Trump's administration on Wednesday ordered federal agencies to undertake more large-scale layoffs of workers, while the president let downsizing czar Elon Musktake a star role at his first cabinet meeting and discuss his ambitious budget-cutting targets.

A new memo instructed agencies to submit plans by March 13 for a "significant reduction" in staffing to a federal workforce already reeling from waves of layoffs and program cuts by Musk's so-called Department of Government Efficiency. It did not specify the number of new layoffs.

The memo represents a major escalation in Trump and Musk's campaign to slash the size of the US government.

The Business Standard Google News Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel

Thus far, the layoffs have focused on probationary workers, who have less tenure in their current roles and enjoy fewer job protections. The next round would target the vastly bigger pool of veteran civil servants.

At the cabinet meeting, Trump said Lee Zeldin, the Environmental Protection Agency administrator, plans to cut up to 65% of his more than 15,000 employees.

On Tuesday, an Interior Department source told Reuters that bureaus such as the US Fish and Wildlife Service and the Bureau of Indian Affairs have been ordered to prepare for workforce reductions as high as 40%.

Some 100,000 of the nation's 2.3 million civilian federal workers have been fired or taken buyouts.

Trump offered Musk an extraordinary sign of support by inviting the billionaire to tout his work to the presidential cabinet, some of whom had pushed back on his recent demand that all of their employees justify their work or face termination.

Musk is not a cabinet-level official -- and faced no approval by the US Senate -- and the White House has claimed in court papers that he is not in charge of DOGE, even though Trump has said he is and Musk aides staff DOGE.

As cabinet secretaries looked on, the Tesla and SpaceX CEO - wearing a black "Make America Great Again" baseball cap and a T-shirt reading "tech support" - expressed confidence he can cut the $6.7 trillion budget by $1 trillion this year. That extremely ambitious target would likely entail significant disruption of government programs.

Trump made it clear he backed Musk's effort, giving him the floor at the top of the meeting and later asking the gathered officials, "Is anyone unhappy with Elon?" to scattered laughs.

Later on Wednesday, Trump signed an executive order directing agencies to work with DOGE to review and terminate all "unnecessary" contracts and instructing the General Services Administration, which manages the government's real estate, to create a plan for disposing of any unneeded property.

Thus far, Trump and Musk have failed to slow the rate of spending. According to a Reuters analysis, the government spent 13% more during Trump's first month in office than during the same time last year, largely due to higher interest payments on the debt and rising health and retirement costs incurred by an aging population.

Trump reiterated his promise to refrain from cutting popular health and retirement benefits, which account for nearly half of the budget.

"We're not going to touch it," said Trump.

Trump is simultaneously pushing Congress to extend his 2017 tax cuts, set to expire at year's end. The nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget estimates the 2017 cuts added $2.5 trillion to the nation's debt, now $36 trillion, and that extending the tax cuts could cost more than $5 trillion over a decade.

Republicans are weighing cuts to healthcare and food aid for the poor to help pay for the tax cuts, though specifics have not yet emerged.

CONFUSION AND THREATS

Some cabinet secretaries were taken by surprise over the weekend when federal workers received an email requiring them to list their accomplishments for the week, a demand Musk said would result in termination if ignored.

Some agencies told employees to ignore the directive, prompting days of confusion over whether Musk and Trump could make good on the threat.

Musk, the world's richest person, told the cabinet his email was an attempt to find out whether government paychecks were going to actual workers.

"We think there are a number of people on the government payroll who are dead," he said, without providing any evidence.

Trump again suggested the roughly 1 million workers who did not respond to Musk's email might be at risk of losing their jobs.

Trump and Musk's unprecedented government overhaul has also frozen foreign aid and disrupted construction projects and scientific research.

In a court filing on Wednesday, the Trump administration said the State Department and the US Agency for International Development had canceled nearly 10,000 grants and contracts.

The GSA, informally known as the government's landlord, plans to terminate 1,100 leases for office space by the end of the year, according to a person briefed on the matter.

The terminations will target so-called soft-term leases, which are no longer subject to cancellation penalties and can be easily ended, the person said. The GSA manages roughly 2,800 soft-term leases in total, and thousands more "firm-term" leases that cannot be ended without cause.

Top News / World+Biz

Trump administration / Elon Musk / DOGE

Comments

While most comments will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive, moderation decisions are subjective. Published comments are readers’ own views and The Business Standard does not endorse any of the readers’ comments.

Top Stories

  • Students protest outside Secretariat on 22 July 2025. Photo: TBS
    Education secretary removed; students protest in front of Secretariat demanding edu adviser's resignation
  • Siddique Zubair. Photo: Collected
    Education ministry senior secretary removed from post: Adviser Mahfuj
  • Students and police clash at Milestone School and College on 22 July 2025. Photo: TBS
    Protesting Milestone students clash with police, law and education advisers still besieged

MOST VIEWED

  • Training aircraft crashes at the Diabari campus of Milestone College on 21 July 2025. Photo: Courtesy
    BAF jet crash at Milestone school: At least 20 including children, pilot dead; 171 hospitalised
  • Flight Lieutenant Md Towkir Islam. Photo: Collected
    Pilot tried to avoid disaster by steering crashing jet away from populated area: ISPR
  • An idle luxury: Built at a cost of Tk450 crore, this rest house near Parki Beach in Anwara upazila has stood unused for six months. Perched on the southern bank of the Karnaphuli, the facility now awaits a private lease as the Bridge Division seeks to put it to use. Photo: Md Minhaz Uddin
    Karnaphuli Tunnel’s service area holds tourism promises, but tall order ahead
  • Bangladesh declares one-day state mourning following plane crash on school campus
    Bangladesh declares one-day state mourning following plane crash on school campus
  • 91-day treasury bills rate falls 1.13 percentage points to 10.45% in a week
    91-day treasury bills rate falls 1.13 percentage points to 10.45% in a week
  • Air Force F-7 BJI training aircraft crashes at Milestone College in Uttara
    Air Force F-7 BJI training aircraft crashes at Milestone College in Uttara

Related News

  • Trump administration urges court to unseal Epstein docs
  • US judge weighs putting new block on Trump's birthright citizenship order
  • Tesla IT exec with no traditional car-sales experience is running sales: sources
  • Trump says Coca-Cola agreed to use real cane sugar in US
  • SpaceX to invest $2 billion in Musk's xAI startup: WSJ

Features

Illustration: TBS

Uttara, Jatrabari, Savar and more: The killing fields that ran red with July martyrs’ blood

17h | Panorama
Despite all the adversities, girls from the hill districts are consistently pushing the boundaries to earn repute and make the nation proud. Photos: TBS

Despite poor accommodation, Ghagra’s women footballers bring home laurels

1d | Panorama
Photos: Collected

Water-resistant footwear: A splash of style in every step

1d | Brands
Tottho Apas have been protesting in front of the National Press Club in Dhaka for months, with no headway in sight. Photo: Mehedi Hasan

From empowerment to exclusion: The crisis facing Bangladesh’s Tottho Apas

2d | Panorama

More Videos from TBS

Thursday exams will not be held after July 22

Thursday exams will not be held after July 22

14m | TBS News Updates
Relatives gather at Taukir's house to bid their last farewell

Relatives gather at Taukir's house to bid their last farewell

1h | TBS Today
How to find out the cause of a plane crash

How to find out the cause of a plane crash

54m | TBS Today
PM cannot be party chief at the same time, consensus commission decides

PM cannot be party chief at the same time, consensus commission decides

1h | TBS News Updates
EMAIL US
contact@tbsnews.net
FOLLOW US
WHATSAPP
+880 1847416158
The Business Standard
  • About Us
  • Contact us
  • Sitemap
  • Advertisement
  • Privacy Policy
  • Comment Policy
Copyright © 2025
The Business Standard All rights reserved
Technical Partner: RSI Lab

Contact Us

The Business Standard

Main Office -4/A, Eskaton Garden, Dhaka- 1000

Phone: +8801847 416158 - 59

Send Opinion articles to - oped.tbs@gmail.com

For advertisement- sales@tbsnews.net