The US continues to cut thousands of federal employees.

The U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA) announced on February 28 that it will cut approximately 7,000 employees as part of a streamlining plan by the Trump administration.

In a statement, the SSA said it would restructure its workforce from 57,000 to 50,000, focusing on cutting positions that do not directly provide essential services, CNN reported. The agency is tasked with supporting the welfare and pensions of approximately 73 million retired and disabled Americans each month. Due to its importance and scale of work, it was one of the few agencies that American politicians initially believed would not be included in the cuts. During his campaign, Trump repeatedly stated he would not touch the SSA in his government spending cuts plan.

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Meanwhile, CBS News, citing informed sources, reported that nearly 900 employees of the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) were laid off on February 27. Among those affected were meteorologists, weather surveyors, and "storm chasers"—those who fly aircraft into storms to collect data. This has raised concerns among scientists about NOAA's shortage of personnel to handle climate issues, in the context of increasingly frequent and dangerous natural disasters.

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Also related to personnel matters, the Pentagon recently announced that Lieutenant General Telita Crosland, who also served as Director of the Defense Medical Agency (DHA) and was one of the highest-ranking Black female officers in the military, retired on February 28th. Reuters, citing two informed sources, said that Crosland was likely forced to retire after 32 years of service. The Department of Defense did not state the reason for Crosland's retirement. Prior to this, the Trump administration dismissed General Charles "CQ" Brown, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, along with several other high-ranking Pentagon leaders.

The White House is also determined to end remote work, with the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) sending an ultimatum to at least 20 employees, giving them until March 7 to return to Washington D.C. to work, or risk being fired. Experts say that while government agencies have the right to require employees to return to in-person work, setting such a short deadline could be seen as forcing employees to resign.

The OPM's announcement was even more shocking because on the same day it sent the letter to employees (February 26), President Trump instructed government agencies to submit plans by April 14 to move their offices out of the capital and to "less expensive locations." To date, the Trump administration has fired or offered severance pay to approximately 100,000 officials, and the trend shows no sign of slowing down. The majority of those targeted were probationary employees, but a new wave of cuts targeting permanent staff at federal agencies has recently emerged.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/my-tiep-tuc-cat-giam-hang-ngan-nhan-su-lien-bang-185250301220725634.htm