Will US Federal Layoffs Affect Sustainability?
US President Donald Trump’s administration has begun a big downsizing of the federal workforce, expected to impact thousands of employees.
This is in attempts to reduce federal expenditures, influenced in part by the Department of Government Efficiency where Elon Musk leads.
More than 200,000 federal workers across more than a dozen agencies have had their roles eliminated, according to ABC News.
This includes mass firings of probationary federal employees, those who have usually been in their role for less than a year.
This affects agencies including the Departments of Agriculture (USDA), Health and Human Services (HHS), Energy (DOE) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Several federal agencies previously published data related to the environment, pollution and population vulnerability – but the administration has taken some of these offline.
However, a court order brought some pages back online on 11 February, now containing a note that the administration and department “reject” them.
The Environmental Protection Agency
The EPA has fired 388 probationary employees after “a thorough review of agency functions in accordance with President Trump’s executive orders” according to a statement from spokesperson Molly Vaseliou.
On 6 February 2025, it was reported that more than 100 employees from the Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights were placed on leave by the EPA.
EJScreen is an environmental justice screening and mapping tool that combines demographic and environmental information that can be used to identify areas experiencing disproportionate exposure to environmental hazards and impacts.
This tool was hosted by the Environmental Protection Agency, but was removed from its website on 5 February 2025.
The server that distributes the data behind EJScreen is also now inaccessible.
The Department of Agriculture
Alongside supporting farming in the United States, the USDA works to protect natural resources, support rural communities and help to end hunger in the country and internationally.
Agencies under the USDA include the Forest Service, Agricultural Research Service and Risk Management Agency.
The US Forest Service is firing 3,400 probationary employees according to reports – equivalent to 10% of its workforce.
The Forest Service looks after 154 national forests and 20 national grasslands in the country.
However, on 18 February 2025 the USDA said that it had accidentally fired officials working on a bird flu outbreak and is now trying to rehire them.
The Department of Health and Human Services
The US HHS contains a collection of agencies that fall under the Public Health Service including the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and National Institutes of Health (NIH).
The department as a whole has more than 80,000 employees, and around 5,200 of them have lost jobs according to STAT News.
Nearly 1,300 CDC staff members have been fired, the Associated Press reported.
More than 1,200 people were laid off at the NIH according to an internal email seen by Reuters.
The Department of Energy
The DOE oversees national energy policy and production alongside energy conservation and programmes and contracts like Energy Innovation Hubs.
On 19 February 2025, the DOE said around 700 of its workers were laid off and reports from Reuters said that as many as 2,000 workers were informed they were being laid off.
On 14 February 2025, 325 workers said they were sent notice they were laid off from the National Nuclear Security Administration according to the Independent.
However, after public backlash many workers were rehired, leaving less than 50 workers removed, the DOE said.
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