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• US president pushes Musk to be ‘more aggressive’ in federal cuts
• New York City and AP sue Trump for separate issues
WASHINGTON: The Pentagon said on Friday it would cut 5,400 jobs as part of President Donald Trump’s effort to slash the federal workforce, a day after some Republican lawmakers faced a backlash from voters.
The cuts, due to take place next week, are a fraction of the 50,000 Defence Department job losses that some had anticipated but they might not be the last. One top official, Darin Selnick, said the Pentagon will implement a hiring freeze and could ultimately reduce its 950,000-strong civilian workforce by 5 per cent to 8pc.
The cuts 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 programmes throughout the US government, from foreign aid to financial oversight. Legal challenges have had mixed results so far, as federal judges have declined to stop the layoffs.
Trump also said on Saturday he would like his billionaire adviser Elon Musk to get “more aggressive” in implementing his reform agenda of cutting back the federal government. “Elon is doing a great job, but I would like to see him get more aggressive,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. “Remember, we have a country to save.”
On Friday, the Federal Bureau of Investigation ordered 1,500 staffers to be transferred out of its Washington headquarters to offices around the country, according to two sources. Roughly one in four FBI employees currently work in Washington, according to government figures. 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 Sept 11, 2001 hijacking attacks. The CDC 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.
A majority of Americans worry that Musk’s downsizing drive could disrupt government services, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll .
Musk — the world’s richest person and Trump’s biggest donor — has led the effort to fire swaths of the federal workforce. A judge on Thursday denied a union bid to temporarily halt the firing of thousands of people. Musk said this week he would work with Trump for as long as he “can be helpful,” as the pair dismissed concerns over possible conflicts of interest due to the tech tycoon’s government contracts.
Lawsuits against Trump
Trump was sued by The Associated Press and New York City on Friday for separate reasons. The AP sued senior aides to President Donald Trump over a decision by the White House to restrict the news outlet’s access to the president and other officials for continuing to refer to the Gulf of Mexico in its coverage. Meanwhile, New York City sued the Trump administration on Friday for clawing back $80.5 million of grants intended to cover part of the city’s cost of housing migrants.
The lawsuit, filed in US District Court in Washington DC, alleges that the White House’s decision to bar AP reporters from the Oval Office and Air Force One violates the US Constitution, including protections for free speech, by trying to control the language that it uses to report the news.
“The press and all people in the United States have the right to choose their own words and not be retaliated against by the government,” the complaint states.
Responding to questions about the lawsuit posed by conservative commentator Mercedes Schlapp, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, speaking during an appearance at the Conservative Political Action Conference, said: “We feel we are in the right in this position. We are going to ensure that truth and accuracy is present at that White House every single day.”
Trump signed an executive order last month directing the Interior Department to change the name of the body of water long known as the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America. The AP, citing editorial standards, said it would continue to use the gulf’s established name, while acknowledging Trump’s move to change it.
In a complaint filed in Manhattan federal court, New York City rejected claims by federal officials that it was misusing the funds, and said the Feb 11 “money grab” thwarted Congress’ purpose in appropriating the money. City officials sued after the funds paid on Feb 4 by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, part of the Department of Homeland Security, went missing from a bank account, having been clawed back by the agency.
Kristi Noem, the homeland security secretary, posted on the social media platform X on Feb 12: “I have clawed back the full payment that FEMA deep state activists unilaterally gave to NYC migrant hotels.”
Published in Dawn, February 23rd, 2025
