Elon Musk’s chaotic Tesla layoffs hits a federal agency

The employees of the Ministry of Health and Social Services presented themselves at their offices on Tuesday to learn their fate: if their badges worked, they always had a job. If they did not do it, they had to clean their desk.

“I was crying all the desire to work today,” said an HHS employee with Business Insider while waiting online.

The employee said he saw a man pass by, existing his personal effects on an office chair after being terminated.

“I saw three people who entered, then I came back and I left with tears in my eyes,” said the employee, who was finally left into the building. “People behind me sniff.”

The badges scanning tactics appeared similar to that used by Tesla, the manufacturer of electric vehicles led by the Doge de facto head, Elon Musk. In 2024, some employees told BI that they arrived at work and discovered that they had been chopped when their badges had not worked.

HHS layoffs are part of DOGE and the Trump administration’s objective to reduce government waste and reduce federal workforce. On March 27, the Secretary of Health, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., announced his intention to end around 10,000 workers from the agency.

Kennedy said in a video press release that “HHS is a sprawling bureaucracy that literally encompasses hundreds of departments, committees and other offices”.

“This leads to enormous waste and duplication, and even worse, a loss of any unified sense of mission,” said Kennedy.

HHS is responsible for a range of key health programs and agencies, including Food and Drug Administration, National Institutes of Health and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

Other federal agencies have announced plans to reduce their workforce, but each agency carries out these plans differently.

“Everyone is really dark,” said an employee. “I’m still not in the safe area. These shots could occur all week.”

The representatives of HHS, Doge and Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for BI comments.

Another HHS employee who entered the building told Bi that they had learned via a reddit post that the dismissal notices came out around 5 am

The worker said they had met increased security when they got to work.

“When I got to work this morning, the building was locked and we had to slide badges to enter,” said the employee. “Security warned employees not to leave people behind them.

“There were three officers in uniform standing behind security, probably to escort those who had come out,” added the worker.

David Super, professor of administrative law at Georgetown Law, told Bi that he was “confident” that HHS layoffs will be pleaded.

“The dismissal of thousands of qualified employees is not a plausible means of achieving the objectives that Congress has attributed to these agencies,” said Super.

Prosecutions have already led to the reinstatement of thousands of dismissed probation employees, but they could still be included In upcoming reduction plans – and more legally solid.

Federal workers at all levels have been in limbo while their agencies develop these reorganization plans. The Ministry of Education dismissed 1,300 workers as part of Trump’s objective to completely eliminate the agency, and the Small Business Administration said it would reduce his 43%workforce.

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