According to an NBC News report, the Trump Administration will fire hundreds of senior Department of Homeland Security (DHS) employees this week to remove those deemed unaligned with its goals.
The administration has a “centralized plan” and a list of high-level DHS employees targeted for removal.
These firings follow broader workforce cuts that began Friday. These actions affect the Federal Emergency Management Agency, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration, and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.
The goal is not to reduce the workforce but to remove individuals perceived as obstacles to the administration’s agenda.
The employees at those high levels “are career people who have an influence on policy and strategy in those positions,” said a former senior Biden administration official, responding to news of the plan.
“Under President Trump’s leadership, we are making sweeping cuts and reform across the federal government to eliminate egregious waste and incompetence that has been happening for decades at the expense of the American taxpayer,” a DHS spokesperson said on Friday.
“Today’s Department of Homeland Security personnel action will result in roughly $50 million in savings for American taxpayers and incalculable valuable toward accountability and cutting red tape,” the spokesperson added. “DHS component leads identified non-mission critical personnel in probationary status. We are actively identifying other wasteful positions and offices that do not fulfill DHS’ mission.”
DHS has a workforce of approximately 252,000, according to the fiscal year 2024 budget.
More over at NBC News:
Department of Homeland Security preparing to fire hundreds of senior leaders this week https://t.co/ymXgOgEFRg
— CNBC (@CNBC) February 18, 2025
