White House reinstates hundreds of staff dismissed by Musk’s DOGE – AP
Federal employees faced dismissal as part of the government efficiency czar’s cost-cutting drive
Hundreds of US federal employees let go during Elon Musk’s cost-reduction efforts are now being asked to return to their positions, the Associated Press has reported.
US President Donald Trump initiated the waste-cutting program a month after assuming office, with the newly formed Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) leading the charge. Musk helmed the department until June, when he resigned amidst growing friction with the president.
The offers for reinstatement apply to workers who previously managed federal office spaces, AP reported on Tuesday.
The General Services Administration (GSA), which oversees 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 of paid leave. During that period, the GSA in some instances incurred significant costs – passed on to taxpayers – for dozens of leases it had intended 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 stated the GSA has been in “triage mode” for months, with the recall highlighting how Musk’s team advanced “too far, too fast.”
Some employees who were dismissed under Musk’s program are also being rehired by other federal agencies.
The widespread departures began in March, when thousands of GSA employees left under early retirement or resignation programs. Hundreds more were outright dismissed, though many continued to receive their salaries through September despite not working.
At its most ambitious, DOGE sought to cancel nearly half of the GSA’s 7,500 leases and divest hundreds of federally owned buildings.
Other agencies are reportedly facing comparable challenges. The IRS, Labor Department, and National Park Service have all recently brought back employees who accepted buyouts, the report indicated.
SpaceX CEO Musk developed an increasingly close relationship with Trump during the Republican’s presidential campaign and in the initial months of his administration, but later opposed Trump’s substantial tax-and-spending legislation, causing a public rift between the two.