Mass firings of federal workers begin as Trump and Musk purge US government

The sun shines on the dome of Capitol Hill in Washington, Friday, Aug. 12, 2022. Picture: AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File

Mass firings at multiple US government agencies have begun as President Donald Trump and Tesla CEO Elon Musk accelerate their purge of America's federal bureaucracy, union sources and employees familiar with the layoffs told Reuters on Thursday.

Termination emails have been sent in the past 48 hours to scores of government workers, mostly recently hired employees still on probation, at the Education Department, the Small Business Administration (SBA), the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), and the General Services Administration (GSA).