The Pentagon on Friday said it would sack 5,400 workers in line with President Donald Trump’s drive to slash the federal workforce......CONTINUE READING THE ARTICLE FROM THE SOURCE>>>>>
This comes a day after some Republican lawmakers faced jeers back home from voters angry about the aggressive effort.
The firings, which is due to take place next week, are said to be a fraction of the 50,000 Defense Department job losses that some had anticipated but they might not be the last.
A top official, Darin Selnick, said the Pentagon will implement a hiring freeze and could ultimately reduce its 950,000-strong civilian workforce by 5% to 8%.
It was gathered that the firings are the latest in a fast-moving overhaul led by tech billionaire Elon Musk that has laid off more than 20,000 workers and dismantled programs throughout the US government, from foreign aid to financial oversight.
So far, legal challenges have had mixed results, as federal judges have declined to stop the layoffs.
Meanwhile, a federal judge on Friday cleared the way for Trump to put more than 2,000 workers at the US Agency for International Development on leave.
However, the US Supreme Court blocked Trump from immediately firing the head of the Office of Special Counsel, an independent watchdog agency.
Also on Friday, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, FBI, ordered 1,500 staffers to be transferred out of its Washington headquarters to offices around the country.
According to government figures, roughly one in four FBI employees currently work in Washington.
In some cases, the Trump administration has scrambled to rehire those it has fired, including workers who oversee nuclear safety and bird flu response.
The US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention said it would recall previously fired workers who oversee a health plan for 137,000 people sickened by toxic exposure following the September 11, 2001 hijacking attacks.
The agency also said it would reinstate two research contracts it had canceled to investigate cancer rates among emergency responders after it faced criticism from Democrats and Republicans in Congress.