The Trump administration made another major move on Friday, firing over 400 employees from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
This is part of a broader push to shrink the federal workforce dramatically.
DHS officials said they let go of employees across several key agencies, including the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).
These layoffs mostly targeted “non-mission critical personnel” who were still in their probationary periods.
Tricia McLaughlin, a spokesperson for DHS, defended the cuts, saying they would save the government around $50 million.
She argued the cuts would help eliminate wasteful positions, contributing to the administration’s goal of reducing government inefficiency.
The cuts hit FEMA especially hard, with more than 200 employees fired, following another controversy this week about four FEMA workers accused of improperly handling payments for hotel costs to house migrants.
These firings follow Trump’s larger plan to cut waste across the federal government.
CISA, the country’s top cybersecurity agency, also saw major cuts, with over 130 employees let go.
CISA was created under Trump’s first term to protect the nation’s critical infrastructure from cyber threats.
Additionally, DHS reassigned 12 U.S. Coast Guard members, who had been on administrative leave, to help with border security efforts.
These members had previously worked on diversity, equity, and inclusion programs within the Coast Guard.
USCIS wasn’t spared, either. The agency saw nearly 50 workers let go, including employees who handle immigration-related applications, like citizenship and green card requests.
Ten employees were also let go from the DHS Science and Technology Directorate.
Interestingly, two major agencies central to Trump’s immigration crackdown.
Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) were not affected by the latest round of firings.
Earlier this week, Trump signed an executive order instructing government leaders to plan for “large-scale reductions in force.”
Officials from the Office of Personnel Management held a meeting with agency heads on Thursday, encouraging them to target workers still on probation, making it easier to let them go.
The Trump administration’s aggressive push to fire federal employees especially new hires has spread across multiple agencies, including Veterans Affairs, Education, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Even the U.S.
Agency for International Development, which manages foreign aid, saw a significant purge.
Elon Musk, the billionaire behind the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), has led these efforts, with the goal of reducing the federal bureaucracy and freezing funding he deems wasteful.
From the White House, Trump claimed his administration had uncovered “billions and billions of dollars” in waste and fraud, though he didn’t provide specific evidence.
Musk, speaking at the World Government Summit in Dubai, took it a step further, suggesting the U.S. should “delete entire agencies” to get rid of inefficiencies.