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accountable.us
Trump Mass Firing of Federal Workers Is a Very Local Issue, Warns Watchdog
"What Donald Trump and Elon Musk aren't telling you is that under the banner of DOGE they are gutting Americans' jobs and eliminating their essential services all across the country," said one critic.
Mar 07, 2025
While mass layoffs of federal workers and draconian cost-cutting by Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency may seem like a distant issue to many Americans, a leading influence-monitoring watchdog warned Thursday that the Trump administration's sweeping cuts "are coming to your city services next."
"President Donald Trump and Elon Musk haven't just been taking a chainsaw through federal departments in Washington, D.C. Their crusade against regular Americans, and the services they depend on, has found its latest target: public servants directly serving in communities across the country," Accountable.US said in a statement.
The group noted that the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) "has taken aim at workers across the country who are providing critical services ranging from veterans' care, administration of Social Security benefits, public health, forest service management, and more."
"That's because at least 80% of all federal workers live outside of the Beltway, with federal field offices facing cuts which will lead to degraded services in communities in every state," Accountable.US added. "Already, Americans are feeling the impact of office closures and the elimination of jobs."
For example, in Pennsylvania, DOGE is closing Rural Housing Service, Internal Revenue Service, and Fish and Wildlife Service field offices that employ and serve local residents. In Michigan, hundreds of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration workers have been laid off. In Nevada, federal office building maintenance staffers in Las Vegas and Reno have been let go. The list goes on and on.
"What Donald Trump and Elon Musk aren't telling you is that under the banner of DOGE they are gutting Americans' jobs and eliminating their essential services all across the country," Accountable.US executive director Tony Carrk
said Thursday.
"From veterans' services to Social Security benefits, the administration is recklessly playing politics with benefits Americans depend on," Carrk continued. "It's all in service of paying for tax cuts which will benefit Trump, Musk, and their wealthy friends' pocketbooks, but push regular Americans further behind."
On Friday, Carrk further called the Trump-Musk cuts "a slap in the face to workers across the country, who get up everyday and serve others in their community."
"The fact these unnecessary job cuts are in service of paying for tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans, makes it all the more despicable," he added.
In many cases, people who enthusiastically voted for Trump have been fired, including disabled Air Force veteran Nathan Hooven, who was terminated last month from his job at a Virginia medical center for veterans. As Common Dreamsreported Wednesday, up to 83,000 Department of Veterans Affairs jobs are on the Trump-Musk chopping block.
"I think a lot of other veterans voted the same way, and we have been betrayed," Hooven toldThe Associated Press Wednesday. "I feel like my life and the lives of so many like me, so many that have sacrificed so much for this country, are being destroyed."
Despite efforts like the "New York Wants You" campaign to hire laid off federal workers, finding new employment can be a tremendous challenge, especially for older workers and people with disabilities. There are approximately 3 million federal employees, more than 50% of whom are age 45 or older.
"Federal workers all across the country are starting to look, and it's impacting people everywhere," Cory Stahle, an economist at the job search platform Indeed, toldThe New York Times Friday. "It's hard to think this isn't going to stress test the labor market in the coming months."
The Trump-Musk purge has many targeted workers shaking their heads in disbelief.
"Why are government employees suddenly the enemy?" Timothy Nicolazzi, a program analyst at the Department of Housing and Urban Development facing the loss of his job, told the Louisville Courier Journal Friday.
"A lot of us took these positions because we wanted to continue serving our country in a different capacity," the veteran added. "We just keep asking why, why is this happening to us? When did we become the enemy? When did serving our country become the wrong thing to do?"
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In 'Blatant Gift' to Musk's X Money Scheme, Republicans Move to Further Gut CFPB
"Elon Musk wants to cripple consumer protections for digital payment apps and the U.S. Senate is doing his bidding."
Mar 05, 2025
Republicans in the U.S. Senate are expected to vote Wednesday to rescind a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau rule aimed at safeguarding the public from scammers on digital payment apps, a move that would directly benefit billionaire Elon Musk's effort to transform his social media platform into a virtual wallet as well as Trump Media's foray into financial services.
"Musk wants to cripple consumer protections for digital payment apps and the U.S. Senate is doing his bidding," Emily Peterson-Cassin, corporate power director at Demand Progress, said in a statement ahead of the vote, which is expected late Wednesday afternoon.
"Not only does Musk want X, a platform swarming with bots and crypto scams, to be able to reach into your bank account, he also wants to defang and 'delete' the agency responsible for ensuring that X Money follows federal standards for data security and fraudulent payment disputes," Peterson-Cassin added. "Senators must side with American consumers, and not online scammers, by voting 'NO' on this dangerous bill."
The vote will come as Musk and President Donald Trump work to gut the CFPB by firing much of its staff and halting its work to protect consumers from corporate abuses.
On Tuesday, the CFPB—currently under the control of far-right ideologue and Project 2025 architect Russell Vought—dropped its lawsuit against the digital payment platform Zelle and major Wall Street banks, which were accused of "failing to protect consumers from widespread fraud."
Demand Progress said Wednesday that the vote on the GOP-led Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution, which requires just a simple-majority vote to pass both chambers of Congress, is "the latest in a damning and telling chain of events benefiting Elon Musk."
The group laid out the timeline:
- November 21, 2024: The CFPB finalizes a rule enabling the agency to proactively supervise digital payment apps;
- November 27, 2024: Musk tweets 'Delete CFPB';
- January 28, 2025: X CEO announces that X Money will debut with a partnership with Visa;
- February 7, 2025: Musk's DOGE staffers enter the CFPB and kick off an effort to shut it down; and
- March 5, 2025: The Senate is set to vote on legislation to revoke the CFPB's digital payments rule.
"Every step of the way, Musk has gotten closer to launching X Money without a watchdog to ensure that the platform adheres to federal rules mandating data security standards, disputes for fraudulent payments, consumer protections against debanking, and more," said Demand Progress.
During floor debate on Senate Republicans' attempt to revoke the CFPB's digital payment rule, Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) said sardonically that he is "sure it has nothing to do with the fact that Elon Musk wants to start a payment app."
The New York Timesnoted last month that "at X, one of the most promising ways Mr. Musk can increase profits is through a payments business, which could charge fees for transactions."
"Building out that business would be easier without having to contend with a regulator like the consumer bureau, which has a recent track record of bringing cases against payment companies," the Times added.
Tony Carrk, executive director of the watchdog group Accountable.US, said in a statement Wednesday that the Republican push to rescind the CFPB rule "only serves Big Tech and the personal finances of Trump and Musk themselves."
"This is a blatant gift to industry donors and the wealthy, allowing companies like Apple, PayPal, and X Money to avoid federal laws designed to protect consumers from fraud and abuse," said Carrk. "Payment apps are no longer a novelty; these companies process over 13 billion transactions a year. Users deserve a safe and secure experience, but they won't get that if Republicans get their way. Today's vote is the latest, glaring example of Trump and Republicans undermining consumer protections all in service of making things easier for big corporations and worse for everyday Americans."
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'Another Unqualified Billionaire': Senate Confirms McMahon as Education Secretary
"The more the president stacks his administration with eccentric billionaires, the further the system gets rigged against working people, seniors, and students," argued one critic.
Mar 03, 2025
Continuing what one watchdog called "their pattern of rubber-stamping deeply flawed and unqualified" Cabinet nominees of President Donald Trump, Senate Republicans on Monday confirmed sports entertainment billionaire and prolific GOP fundraiser Linda McMahon to head the U.S. Department of Education—an agency the president has repeatedly vowed to abolish.
Senators confirmed McMahon in a 51-45 vote. The loyal Trump ally and top fundraiser previously led the Small Business Administration during the president's first term. However, other than serving one year on the Connecticut Board of Education and as a trustee for Sacred Heart University, she has little experience in the field.
Republicans—many of whom share Trump's desire to end the Department of Education—didn't seem to care, with Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa asserting that "education is still mostly a state and local responsibility."
BREAKING: Senate Republicans just confirmed Linda McMahon as Education Secretary—another unqualified billionaire who doesn't understand the Department she's tasked with leading and who is ready to grab the hatchet and help Trump destroy the Department of Education altogether.
— Senator Patty Murray (@murray.senate.gov) March 3, 2025 at 3:29 PM
McMahon gained a more dubious reputation for what one campaigner called her "documented history of enabling sexual abuse of children and sweeping sexual violence under the rug" during her tenure as World Wrestling Entertainment CEO.
The 76-year-old finds herself in the position of being simultaneously tasked with dismantling the DOE and ramping up attacks on diversity, equity, and inclusion programs; "woke" education; transgender students; and other right-wing bugaboos. She is also expected to promote expanded voucher programs, which supporters call "school choice."
Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers—which is leading a "Protect Our Kids" nationwide day of action Tuesday—said in a statement that "we know we will disagree with Secretary McMahon on a host of issues, including her stance on using public funds for private school vouchers."
"We're deeply concerned that her boss, Donald Trump, wants her to take a wrecking ball to the Department of Education and this nation's public schools," Weingarten added. "We want to work with her on strengthening public schools and ramping up high school career and technical education and workforce development efforts across the nation. We ask that she respect the hardworking and amazing educators of this country who are helping young people every day."
National Education Association president Becky Pringle said in a
statement that "every student—no matter where they live, how much their family earns, or the color of their skin—deserves the opportunity, resources, and support they need to grow into their full brilliance."
"Linda McMahon has pledged to dismantle public education and take away resources students need by hollowing out the Department of Education, destroying programs that support students with disabilities, making higher education less accessible, and gutting civil rights protections," Pringle continued.
"While educators and parents would hope McMahon will reflect upon the enormous responsibility she has to our nation's students, sadly there is no evidence to believe she will use her position to focus on strengthening public schools so every student can thrive," she added.
Tony Carrk, the executive director of the watchdog Accountable.US, argued that "every senator who confirmed McMahon is now complicit in the Trump-Project 2025 scheme to abolish the Education Department and jeopardize billions in federal funding needed to strengthen public schools and support special education programs."
"The one-two gut punch of the administration's plans to starve states,
especially conservative ones, of critical federal Medicaid and education money to pay for another wasteful tax break for billionaires like McMahon will leave millions of Americans behind for decades to come," Carrk added. "The more the president stacks his administration with eccentric billionaires, the further the system gets rigged against working people, seniors, and students."
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