In the past three months, 75,000 workers have been laid off across the federal government. Of these, 10,000 have been from the Health and Human Services department, with a target of up to 300,000 terminations. These terminations, although controversial, are completely justified, as they are necessary for debt reduction and enforcing the new administration’s agenda.
The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) began the process by offering preliminary buyouts, which offered workers up to 25,000 dollars relative to their current pay as an incentive to resign from their positions. The offer was only available to non-essential positions, as the majority of terminations were based in communications and human resources. Between the buyout offer and the following terminations, a significant amount of federal workers have been laid off, leading to concern being expressed by some Americans.
While the scale of the terminations may be startling, there are plenty of job openings for positions available across the private sector. In 2013 there were similar budget cuts as a part of a standoff between the Obama administration and Congress, and it is estimated that over 80 percent of those let go found employment within six months of being released. Moreover, around 90 percent of all cut workers during the pandemic found work within seven months. It’s clear that being released hardly equates to long-term unemployment.
The goal of the firings is to tackle our debt crisis, which is part of the new administration’s DOGE initiative to lower federal spending. At the turn of the century, our debt was 58 percent of our Gross Domestic Product (GDP), and during Reagan’s administration it was around 36 percent. Despite these numbers, our debt has since skyrocketed—we are currently $36.7 trillion in debt, 122 percent of our $29.9 trillion GDP. Although debt is good in moderation, the US’ historical mismanagement of loans has created excessive debt without generating significant wealth. Because of our mismanagement of loans, we have not had enough money to pay them back, which causes us to print more money, leading to the high inflation we have seen the last four years.
By decreasing the federal workforce we can decrease national spending, enabling us to save money for spending on initiatives that will help us long-term. The recent wave of federal terminations represents a strategic approach to national debt and combating inflation that doesn’t merit the widespread criticism it has received.
