Lawmakers fear DOGE cuts will drive away next generation of federal workers
Members of both parties warn that Trump and Musk's efforts will severely hinder the government's ability to recruit young people and technical experts.
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s sweeping federal layoffs aren’t just wreaking havoc on tens of thousands of employees across the country.
Lawmakers in both parties are warning the cuts will harm the government’s ability to recruit young people out of college — as well as highly skilled candidates from the private sector — causing a ripple effect that could be felt for years or even decades.
“The recruiting challenge they’re creating for themselves is enormous,” Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., whose state is home to hundreds of thousands of federal workers, said of the Department of Government Efficiency’s efforts. “I don’t think that’s an accidental byproduct. I think that’s a known consequence — and they don’t care.”
Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., whose state also borders Washington, D.C., and is home to thousands of federal employees, agreed with Kaine that DOGE’s headline-grabbing, scorched-earth approach is designed, in part, to drive away the next generation of civil servants.
“I’m very worried that this will discourage talented young people from joining the federal service,” Van Hollen, the son of two former federal workers, said in an interview. “A lot of people who join the federal service do it for all the right reasons; they’re patriots and they want to serve the country. And with the Musk-Trump approach, they’re effectively terrorizing the federal civil service.”
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