Federal workers were dismissed in the government efficiency czar’s cost-cutting push
Hundreds of US federal employees dismissed during Elon Musk’s cost-cutting campaign are now being asked to return to work, the Associated Press has reported.
US President Donald Trump kicked off the waste-cutting effort a month after taking office, with the initiative being led by the newly formed Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Musk headed the department until June, when he stepped down amid mounting tensions with the president.
The reinstatement offers affect workers who previously oversaw federal office spaces, AP reported on Tuesday.
The General Services Administration (GSA), which manages government properties and acquisitions, has given the affected employees until the end of the week to decide. According to the outlet, those who accept must report back on October 6, following what has effectively been seven months’ paid leave. During that period, the GSA in some cases incurred high costs – passed along to taxpayers – for dozens of leases it had planned to terminate or allowed to expire.
“Ultimately, the outcome was the agency was left broken and understaffed,” Chad Becker, a former GSA real estate official, told AP. He said the GSA has been in “triage mode” for months, with the recall underscoring how Musk’s team went “too far, too fast.”
Some employees who were dismissed under Musk’s program are also being rehired by other federal agencies.
The mass departures began in March, when thousands of GSA employees left under early retirement or resignation programs. Hundreds more were dismissed outright, though many continued to receive their salaries through September despite not working.
At its peak, DOGE sought to cancel nearly half of the GSA’s 7,500 leases and sell off hundreds of federally owned buildings.
Other agencies are reportedly facing similar challenges. The IRS, Labor Department, and National Park Service have all recently brought back employees who accepted buyouts, the report said.
SpaceX CEO Musk became increasingly close to Trump during the Republican’s presidential campaign and in the first months of his administration, but later opposed Trump’s massive tax-and-spending bill, triggering a public rift between the pair.
