WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump, with the support of Elon Musk, has started cutting federal jobs in a big way to save money. They plan to reduce the size of the government and only keep essential workers. This plan, known as the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), is already making big changes.

So far, around 75,000 federal workers have agreed to leave their jobs under a special offer. This offer lets workers resign by a certain date and get paid until September 30. If they don’t take the offer, they might lose their jobs without any guarantees.

The original deadline for resignations was February 6, but it was extended after some legal challenges. A judge has allowed the plan to continue. These 75,000 people make up about 3.75 percent  of the total federal workforce. Workers from agencies like the CIA have been affected.

The first round of job cuts also included probationary employees from key departments, like Education, Small Business Administration, and Energy. Officials say the cuts are for “public interest.”

Education Department’s Budget Cuts and Firings The Department of Education, which Trump has often criticized, has also been making cuts. The department is firing employees and canceling contracts it sees as unnecessary. Reports say 160 employees have received termination letters.

Earlier this week, DOGE cut almost $1 billion in contracts, including shutting down a research group that tracked student achievement.

USAID Closes Down Since Trump became president on January 20, DOGE has already made big changes. One of the first targets was USAID, the U.S. agency that sends foreign aid to conflict zones and other countries. Musk, who now runs DOGE, called USAID a “criminal organization” and started shutting it down.

USAID spends about $40 billion a year, but Musk froze foreign aid and put hundreds of workers on unpaid leave. He also claimed that USAID was spending $50 million on condoms in Gaza, but later took back that statement.

Saving Big Money President Trump has said that Musk and DOGE have saved billions of dollars. He claimed that they’ve already found tens of billions in savings, possibly even up to $500 billion. According to DOGE, they are saving about $1 billion a day by stopping unnecessary hiring and eliminating payments to foreign organizations. They want to increase these savings to more than $3 billion per day.

What is DOGE? DOGE stands for the Department of Government Efficiency. It was created by Trump and is led by Elon Musk. The department is focused on cutting costs in federal agencies, starting with reducing the federal workforce. It’s been working on these changes since January.