Trump Says He Feels “Very Badly” for Fired Federal Workers But Justifies Firing with THIS Reason!
Since returning to the White House for a second term, Donald Trump has been making big changes to the federal government. One of his main priorities has been cutting costs and reshaping how things work, though many of his decisions have been highly controversial. Working closely with Elon Musk and a newly created agency called the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), Trump has been reducing funding, shutting down programs, and even firing thousands of federal employees. Many people have criticized these mass layoffs, saying they are deeply troubling. When asked about the situation, Trump said he feels “very badly” for the workers who lost their jobs but claimed that “many of them don’t work at all.”
Trump’s remarks came after reports revealed that over 1,300 employees from the Department of Education had been let go following Linda McMahon’s appointment as the new Secretary of Education. McMahon, a former WWE executive, was brought in to carry out Trump’s long-standing plan to shift control of education from the federal government to individual states. During a recent meeting with Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin at the White House, Trump was asked about the backlash over these job cuts. He responded, “Sure I do. I feel very badly… but many of them never showed up to work.”
Trump defended the layoffs as part of his broader effort to make the government more efficient. “We want to cut the people that aren’t working or… not doing a good job,” he said. According to NBC News, he argued that removing these workers was necessary to improve the federal government’s performance. He pointed to the Department of Education as an example, saying that while Linda McMahon had cut a large number of employees, she had kept “the best people.”
However, McMahon’s appointment and actions have sparked controversy. Many Republicans have praised her for implementing Trump’s final phase of dismantling the Department of Education, while critics have called it one of the most drastic changes in recent years. Trump has long pushed for a system where states take full control of education, reducing federal involvement. Speaking on this, he said, “Our country was run very badly,” and added, “The goal is to allow the states to run education.”
The layoffs are not limited to the Department of Education. Other federal agencies are also facing deep cuts. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has been ordered to fire around 1,000 employees, which would shrink its workforce by at least 20%, according to The New York Times. Other agencies, including the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), USAID, and the Social Security Administration, have also been instructed to proceed with large-scale terminations.
