DETROIT – A new wave of protests has emerged against the Trump administration’s efforts to reduce wasteful government spending, as more federal workers face job losses in Detroit.
Union workers and Michigan lawmakers were demanding to halt the layoffs immediately outside the John Dingell VA Medical Center, chanting, “Stop the layoffs. When do we want it? Now!”
The Trump administration’s newly established “Department of Government Efficiency,” or “Doge,” claims it is reducing the workforce to save money.
Protesters are raising concerns about how these layoffs are carried out and the potential impact on government services.
One affected employee shared their experience: “Being promoted put me on probationary status because that’s the way it works in the federal government,” said Nicole Rice, one of the federal worker/NOAA members fired. “They have decided that that was the easiest loophole in which to do the first round of firings of federal government employees. So, at 3:30 p.m., I received an email that my services were no longer needed, and at 5 p.m., all of my equipment was shut off.”
According to lawmakers and weather experts, hundreds of employees from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) have reportedly been terminated.
The mass layoffs of federal workers have sparked protests and legal challenges.
