FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 26, 2025
February 26, 2025
Contact:
Tim Kauffman
202-639-6405/202-374-6491
[email protected]
Mass Layoff of Federal Workers Will Mean “Fewer Services at Higher Costs” for Taxpayers, Union Says
Categories:
White House
Administration has targeted all federal workers, AFGE says
WASHINGTON – American Federation of Government Employees National President Everett Kelley today issued the following statement in response to the Trump administration calling for large-scale cuts to the federal workforce through a huge reduction in force:
“The federal government is the sum of its people – 2.3 million patriotic Americans who serve this country with honor and distinction, including more than 600,000 veterans. Over the past five weeks, the Trump administration has fired thousands of workers responsible for maintaining our national parks and forests, serving our veterans, and processing American’s tax returns. They enticed workers to quit with the wasteful and illegal promise they would get months of pay for doing nothing. They began the illegal and indiscriminate mass firing of probationary employees across our federal agencies. And now they are going after the rest of the federal workforce.
“Laying off potentially hundreds of thousands of federal workers will mean fewer services at higher costs for the American taxpayer. Longer waits at VA hospitals, fewer inspectors ensuring the safety of our meats and produce, less research into cures for debilitating and deadly diseases, more risks for air travelers, longer waits for Social Security enrollment and passports, and the list goes on. What it will not do is result in any discernable savings for taxpayers – in fact, taxpayers likely will end up paying more as the essential work our government does is sold off to private, for-profit contractors.
“This administration has targeted every single federal worker and does not seem to care how much turmoil they cause for either the employees or the American public. The chaos is the point.
“We will not stand idly by as President Trump, Elon Musk, and their lackies run roughshod over the Constitution, federal law, and basic human decency.”
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