Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and 10 Democratic Senators have called on the government accountability office (GAO) to investigate the effects of the recent firing of federal probationary employees on the health and safety of the American public.
The letter noted at least 25,000 probationary employees at the federal government appear to have been indiscriminately fired under the claims of poor performance, regardless of their performance. The firings put people in the US “at risk”, Warren warned.
The letter was also signed by the fellow Democratic Senators Tammy Baldwin (Wisconsin), Richard Blumenthal (Connecticut), Cory Booker (New Jersey), Tammy Duckworth (Illinois), Kirsten Gillibrand (New York), Amy Klobuchar (Minnesota), Edward J Markey (Massachusetts), Jeff Merkley (Oregon), Chris Van Hollen (Maryland) and Ron Wyden (Oregon).
Warren and the other US Senators cite firings at the Federal Aviation Administration, Transportation Security Administration, Department of Health and Human Services, and the Department of Agriculture, as a few examples, noting the Trump administration has scrambled to rehire some terminated workers that include employees focused on nuclear security, bird flu outbreaks, veterans’ health and health services in tribal communities.
“Rather than make government more efficient, these firings appear to have created massive inefficiencies and put the American people at risk,” Warren wrote. “Congress and the public need to better understand the full impact of these terminations on our health and safety, given that the administration and Musk clearly do not.”
The letter also notes as the Trump administration continues efforts to roll out more firings and implement plans for large-scale reductions in force, private companies associated with Elon Musk and other Trump officials will be used to fill the void.
“Already, private companies – including some owned by or connected to Elon Musk and other Trump officials – have begun entering agencies following mass terminations. Unlike the federal government, those companies are not responsible for prioritizing Americans’ health and safety interests, and we are concerned that they will not do so,” Warren added.
The letter demands an investigation answer questions into how many probationary workers have been fired, their roles and responsibilities, how successful rehiring attempts have been, what percentage of fired employees’ roles have been refilled by new or existing employees, to what extent their functions are still being performed by their respective agencies, and the impact of those functions have not continued.
Warren is also seeking an investigation to determine what cost analysis was performed to conduct the firings, their accuracy, whether the terminations resulted in increased spending, including on contractors and whether refilled roles were being performed by private contractors.
