In an effort to reduce federal spending and reform the government, President Donald J Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), led by Elon Musk, the richest man in the world, has begun its mass purge of federal workers including many Washington State researchers, electricians, engineers, and cyber security experts.
Pacific Northwest agencies impacted by the reduction in force include the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), the Hanford Nuclear Reservation, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA).
The Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) alone could lose 20% of its workforce (or about 600 employees) and is responsible for providing clean and reliable energy to 28% of the Pacific Northwest. Nearly 200 workers at the BPA already resigned after accepting a federal buy out, while 90 offers were rescinded. An additional 100 employees were terminated, according to Krem2 News.
“These are literally the people who help keep the lights on—and now they’re being fired on a whim because Trump and Elon Musk don’t have a clue about what they do and why it’s important, and don’t care to learn. They don’t seem to even understand that these are positions funded by ratepayers—by all of us in the Northwest—not from federal funding,” said Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee.
According to the Snohomish County Public Utilities District (SnoPUD) website, about 80 percent of its power is generated from federal Bonneville Power Administration. It is BPA’s largest single customer.
“We are deeply concerned about the recent workforce reductions at BPA,” shared SnoPUD spokesperson Aaron Swaney with the Lynnwood Times. “Our relationship with BPA is crucial to our ability to deliver reliable, affordable and clean energy to our customers. These reductions threaten to drive up energy costs, cause service disruptions and compromise long-term grid stability.”
At Hanford Nuclear Reservation more than a dozen employees have been laid off including Environmental Scientists and Safety Engineers. Many of these workers were critical, according to Murray, in the Hanford cleanup mission—a decades long effort to cleanup radioactive and hazardous waste left behind by nuclear weapons production.
A handful of employees are also set to be cut from the PNNL who maintain safe energy storage and nuclear security.
“The callousness of this administration is breathtaking—these mass layoffs pose a serious threat to our energy security and the health and safety of people across our state, not to mention the livelihoods of so many hardworking families who have done nothing wrong and whose work is sorely needed,” continued Sen. Murray. “These firings will raise energy costs for Washington ratepayers and jeopardize the reliability of the grid in the Northwest—a genuinely life-or-death concern for millions. I will keep doing everything I can to raise the voices of the people harmed by this administration’s indefensible policies and fight back.”
Hundreds of probationary officers were already cut last Friday, and the Trump administration plans to further cut the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) by 50% – or approximately 4,300 staff members.
In an interview with NPR, Office of Personnel Management (OPM) spokesperson McLaurine Pinover shared that a probationary employee is a recent hire to an agency, recently promoted, or recently transferred to a new role. The employee is placed on a “probationary” status for up to two years (or longer depending on the role) where that employee’s performance is under heighten scrutiny. Hundreds of thousands of workers across federal agencies fall within this designation.
The federal government employs nearly three million people in 2024, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics of which 2.4 million are nonmilitary. The Trump administration’s targeting of federal probationary workers—who have not received civil protections—is the first of many more layoffs to come, the administration said.
Other departments impacted by staffing cuts include the Department of Agriculture, the Education Department, USAID, NIH and more. Nearly 12,000 probationary federal workers have been impacted in total with many of them receiving notice of their termination just four days ago.
The Department of Veterans Affairs, which provides health care for veterans, said it let go more than 1,000 employees who were in their probationary period, while the U.S. Forest Service is set to fire more than 3,000, according to Reuters.
A group of Democrat Senators, including Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), issued a letter to HUD Secretary Scott Turner on Sunday, February 16, demanding he immediately half any further staffing reductions arguing that they would likely exacerbate the housing crises and prevent the HUD from meeting critical functions like disaster preparedness.
“Some of the most drastic reductions impact areas that support highly vulnerable people, including seniors, homeless veterans and families, and people with disabilities, and provide billions of dollars to cities and counties across the country,” wrote the Senators. “Without sufficient staff to run these programs, community and economic development projects, disaster recovery efforts, and housing development across the country will be delayed and could come to a grinding halt.”
Joining Sen. Murray in the letter’s authorship were Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Ranking Member of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies, Senator Tina Smith (D-MN), Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Housing, Transportation, and Community Development, and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY)
The letter continued to mention that the current HUD staffing numbers are the result of years of hard work in order to meet basic and critical functions of the agency. Between 2012 and 2019, for example, the HUD’s staffing levels dropped by 20 percent. Within this time audits conducted by the HUD Office of Inspector General and U.S. Government Accountability Office the currents staffing levels could not support the HUD’s legal obligations under the Fair Housing Act, nor could they properly support community impacted by disaster.
In response to that audit, Congress has worked to address these inadequacies through the annual Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies appropriations bill, Murray said.
“So much of that hard-fought progress has been wiped away in less than three weeks, and between the deferred resignation program and termination of probationary employees, overall staffing levels will be cut by 13 percent at HUD,” the Senators wrote. “President Trump’s reckless threats of blanket tariffs on friendly nations could drive up housing costs, deter new development, and slow rebuilding efforts in disaster-impacted communities. Freezing already obligated funds, cancelling necessary program contracts, and hastily gutting HUD’s workforce will inevitably lead to costly delays, and many housing projects will fall apart completely, only making our current housing crisis worse. We urge you to immediately stop any additional cuts to HUD’s workforce,”
The Senators demanded a response from HUD to their letter by February 21.
Editor’s Note: The article was updated 6:49 p.m., February 18, 2025, with a statement from Snohomish County PUD.
Author: Kienan Briscoe
2 Responses
You know what… F her and the anemic goat she road in on.
Maintaining a steady supply of electricity is Woke. I will gladly sit in darkness and eat spoiled food if it gives Glory to Our Lord and Savior, President Donald J. Trump. Praise Him!