Following multibillionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk’s departure from the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), it looks like the federal government is working to undo some of the work the department did to let go of employees.
According to multiple reports, the government is quickly trying to rehire people it laid off this year. CNN said Tuesday that these rehiring efforts “are a warning sign that it has lost more capacities and expertise that could prove critical – and difficult to replace – in the months and years ahead.”
Already, Audacy has reported on concerns related to DOGE cuts – part of Musk and President Donald Trump’s plan to slash government spending. Experts told Audacy of the dangers associated with National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration cuts, cuts to the nuclear sector, cuts related to the Social Security Administration, cuts at the Pentagon, cuts to the Department of Veterans Affairs, cuts to the National Park Service, cuts to USAID and more.
Earlier this month, The Washington Post reported that the Trump administration was “scrambling” to rehire people across the government. That report came after a very public falling out between Musk and Trump, but the Post noted that the government was working to undo some of DOGE’s work even before the spat.
“Trump officials are trying to recover not only people who were fired, but also thousands of experienced senior staffers who are opting for a voluntary exit as the administration rolls out a second resignation offer,” said the outlet. “Thousands more staff are returning in fits and starts as a conflicting patchwork of court decisions overturn some of Trump’s large-scale firings, especially his Valentine’s Day dismissal of all probationary workers, those with one or two years of government service and fewer job protections.”
To understand the situation better, the Post interviewed 18 people across eight different agencies and reviewed messages.
“A Post review found recent messy re-hirings at agencies including the Food and Drug Administration, the IRS, the State Department and the Department of Housing and Urban Development,” it said. “In some cases, the government is posting new online job listings very similar to positions it recently vacated, a Post review of USAJobs found.”
A review of DOGE cuts by the progressive watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington published Monday found that the elimination or reduction of government select agencies under DOGE have directly cost over 50,000 people their jobs. It also said DOGE’s cuts at these “select agencies and programs could result in a loss of over $10 billion in U.S.-based economic activity and the shuttering of programs that have put over $26 billion in funds directly back into the pockets of taxpayers.”
In one of the Post’s interviews, a White House official said that downsizing efforts taken on by the Trump administration have resulted in some people being fired who should not have been.
“Each agency has made an appropriate determination as to who should be on the payroll in the respective agency,” the official said. “If by chance mistakes were made and critical employees were dismissed, each individual agency is working diligently to bring these people back to work to continue the adequate functions of the federal government.”
Elaine Kamarck, the director of the Center for Effective Public Management at the Brookings Institution, said that the cuts have “wreaked havoc across nearly every agency,” per CNN.
The Hill reported this Tuesday that DOGE did not reach its goal of $2 trillion in savings. Estimates are closer to $175 billion and even that number is in dispute, said the outlet.
“What Musk and DOGE underestimated wasn’t inefficiency but intricacy. In trying to slash and burn their way to headlines, they accidentally demonstrated just how much precision and institutional understanding is required for real reform,” said The Hill.