The US administration is continuing its layoff campaign. Under the leadership of President Donald Trump and his adviser Elon Musk, more than 9,500 employees have lost their jobs as of February 14, according to the British news agency Reuters.

The layoffs have affected employees in the Departments of Homeland Security, Energy, Agriculture, and Health and Human Services. Employees who have been on the job for less than a year have lost their jobs in particular, because their job security is relatively low.

Citing White House officials, various US media reported that about 10,000 employees have been laid off in addition to the approximately 75,000 employees who agreed to Trump’s voluntary retirement offer. Although the country has about 2.3 million government employees, about 3 percent of the workforce has been reduced so far.

Trump alleged that the government is wasting money and fraud due to excess staff. The government is currently about $36 trillion in debt and ran a $1.8 trillion deficit last year, which requires reform.

While the majority of Republicans in Congress support Trump’s initiative, Democrats have complained that the president is ignoring Congress’s constitutional authority to manage the budget.

Trump and Musk’s layoff campaign is also trying to change the job security policy for government employees. They have suspended foreign aid programs and plan to almost completely close agencies such as USAID and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Reuters reported that about half of the junior staff at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) are going to lose their jobs.

Emergency services have also suffered as a result of the layoff process. Forest cleanup work is still on hold a month after the devastating wildfires in Los Angeles.

Meanwhile, Musk’s approach to managing the ‘Department of Government Efficiency’ (DOZE) has been criticized. Critics say the cuts are more ideological than cost-saving. But US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessant dismissed the criticism, saying audits were underway at various agencies.

Experts believe Musk’s campaign is being led by young engineers with no government experience. They say the cuts are driven more by political philosophy than economic analysis.