Trump starts DOGE 2.0 as mass layoffs take place across federal government amid shutdown | 10 Oct 2025 | Donald Trump began his promised mass purge of federal workers Friday, as more than 4,100 people were laid off as the government shutdown rolls on. The president previewed the pink slips in a press conference in the Oval Office earlier Friday, blaming them and the shutdown on the Democrats. “It’ll be a lot and it’ll be Democrat-oriented because we figure they started this thing. It’ll be a lot of people, all because of the Democrats,” Trump said. It’s the biggest set of firings in government since Elon Musk’s DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency) purge early in Trump’s second term. Trump said that going forward, “We’re going to make a determination, do we want a lot? And I must tell you, a lot of them happen to be Democrat oriented. These are people that the Democrats wanted, that, in many cases, were not appropriate,” he said of federal employees, eventually adding, “Many of them will be fired.”