Since Donald Trump took office for the second time, the US government has been pursuing staff reduction policies both to save costs and to optimize employee performance. DOGE, run by Elon Musk, has been primarily responsible for carrying out this task. Now, for the first time, the FTC has laid off workers from sections such as consumer protection and antitrust.
As reported by The Verge, “at least” a dozen probationary staffers at the Federal Trade Commission were laid off last week. The layoffs affected both the Bureau of Consumer Protection and the Bureau of Competition offices. Until now, the FTC had remained safe from government staff cuts. However, it seems that the measures have finally reached the organization.
FTC’s consumer protection and antitrust sections affected by layoffs
That said, the report mentions that they could not confirm that the layoffs are directly related to DOGE. Donald Trump authorized the creation of the Department of Government Efficiency after receiving Musk’s idea. Both believed that government organizations have way more employees than they actually need. So, DOGE is in charge of trying to solve that situation. Trump was convinced by the downsizing work Musk did at X (FKA Twitter).
There have been recent layoffs at the FTC before, but these were not caused by DOGE either. The department affected at that time was the internal equal opportunity office. This was a result of the executive order signed by Donald Trump banning DEI programs in government organizations. Big tech companies, such as Google, Meta, and Amazon, have also followed this mandate. “DEI is over at the FTC,” said Republican Andrew Ferguson, FTC Chair, at the time.
The National Treasury Employees are aware of the layoffs at the FTC. However, they do not know the real scope of the changes underway within the agency. Its website now includes a notice with the steps that the laid-off employees could take now.
The Trump administration is also preparing a staff move at the FTC in Washington. They will now occupy the building formerly occupied by the dismantled USAID, Bloomberg reports.
