By MEG KINNARD, Associated Press
CHAPIN, S.C. (AP) — Changeover among federal government agencies is normal when a new administration comes to Washington. But President Donald Trump has implemented sweeping changes in the first days of his second administration, from firing career agency employees to freezing trillions in federal grant funds and halting diversity, equity and inclusion programs that could result in wide-ranging layoffs.
At least 240 employees are known to have been fired, reassigned, or designated to be laid off. Thousands of employees could be affected by other moves or the grant funds pause.
Here’s a comprehensive look at Trump’s actions so far:
Inspectors general
Each of the federal government’s largest agencies has its own inspector general who is supposed to conduct objective audits, prevent fraud and promote efficiency.
Trump has fired at least 17 of them across the federal government, including inspectors he appointed in his first term. At least one Democratic appointee — Michael Horowitz, appointed to the post at the Justice Department by President Barack Obama — was spared.
Trump confirmed the move in a conversation with reporters aboard Air Force One on Saturday, claiming, “it’s a very common thing to do,” and saying that he would “put good people in there that will be very good.”
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer called the firings a “chilling purge,” while GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham, a top Trump ally, acknowledged that the firings may have violated the law but said: “Just tell them you need to follow the law next time.”
Federal prosecutors
It’s normal for politically appointed U.S. attorneys to be replaced, but not as standard for career prosecutors to be ousted.
The Justice Department said Monday that it had fired more than a dozen employees who worked on criminal prosecutions of Trump, abrupt terminations targeting career prosecutors who worked on special counsel Jack Smith’s team investigating Trump. The firings were effective immediately.
By tradition, career employees remain with the department across presidential administrations regardless of their involvement in sensitive investigations.
Multiple senior career officials were also reassigned.
It was not immediately clear which prosecutors were affected by the order, or how many who worked on the investigations into Trump remained with the department as Trump took office last week. It was also not immediately known how many of the fired prosecutors intended to challenge the terminations by arguing that the department had cast aside civil service protections afforded to federal employees.
National Security Council
The National Security Council provides national security and foreign policy advice to the president. Last week, 160 of its career government, nonpolitical employees were sent home while the administration reviews staffing in an attempt to align with Trump’s priorities.
The employees, commonly referred to as detailees, were summoned for an all-staff call and told they would be expected to be available to the council’s senior directors but would not need to report to the White House.
Incoming national security adviser Mike Waltz had signaled before Inauguration Day that he would look to return holdover civil servants who worked in the council during President Joe Biden’s administration to their home agencies. That was meant to ensure the council is staffed by those who support Trump’s goals.
State Department
A large number of senior career diplomats who served in politically appointed leadership positions — as well as in lower-level posts at the State Department — left their jobs at the demand of the new administration.
It was not immediately clear how many non-political appointees were being asked to leave.
Foreign aid and development
In his first week in office, Trump issued an executive order directing a 90-day pause on most U.S. foreign assistance disbursed through the State Department. That mean thousands of U.S.-funded humanitarian, development and security programs worldwide stopped work or were preparing to do so; without funds to pay staff, aid organizations were laying off hundreds of employees.
A week into the new administration, at least 56 senior officials in the top U.S. aid and development agency were placed on leave amid an investigation into an alleged effort to thwart Trump’s move. Speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal, a current official and a former official at the U.S. Agency for International Development confirmed to The Associated Press the reason given for the move and also said that several hundred contractors based in Washington and elsewhere were laid off.
An internal USAID notice sent late Monday and obtained by AP said new acting administrator Jason Gray had identified “several actions within USAID that appear to be designed to circumvent the President’s Executive Orders and the mandate from the American people.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio has specifically exempted only emergency food programs and military aid to Israel and Egypt from the freeze on foreign assistance.
Diversity, equity and inclusion
On his second day back at the White House, Trump moved to end affirmative action in federal contracting and directed that all federal diversity, equity and inclusion staff be put on paid leave and eventually be laid off.
