Staffing cuts will improve government services, agency leaders say

Agency leaders across the Trump administration on Tuesday told lawmakers their efforts to slash their rolls would lead to improved experiences for those interacting with their federal offices, despite some bipartisan concerns over the impacts of those cuts. 

The officials promised to protect or increase staff in certain areas and said they would move staff around to streamline operations. The Trump administration has pushed out tens of thousands of employees through incentivized departures and is in the midst of laying off far more staff.  

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin told a panel of the House Appropriations Committee that despite ongoing staff cuts, the agency would meet all of its statutory obligations. EPA is planning significant layoffs and earlier this month announced a restructuring of its offices. 

The administrator said reassigning employees from the Office of Research and Development will allow the agency to cut through backlogs in programmatic offices. Thousands of pesticides are pending approval, Zeldin cited as an example, and boosting the scientific workforce in the pesticide office will move that process along more quickly. 

President Trump in his fiscal 2026 budget proposed slashing ORD's funding by 45%. Jennifer Orme-Zavaleta, a 40-year EPA veteran and the former principal deputy assistant administrator for ORD, said earlier this month the office springs into action when chemical spills, natural disasters and bioterrorism arise to provide "the rapid scientific expertise and tools that protect communities in real time." It also provides critical research for new and developing threats, she said, adding the cuts would leave the agency unable to respond to current and future crises. 

Zeldin said when unveiling his plan that when his reorganization efforts are fully implemented, it will maintain a workforce at the same level as seen during President Reagan’s administration. That would lead to a reduction of around 4,000, or 27%, of the agency’s workforce. 

In another appropriations panel on Tuesday, Rep. Chellie Pingree, D-Maine., noted the Interior Department has pushed 7,600 people, or 11% of its workforce, to resign. It was expected to have already begun widespread layoffs, but those plans were paused due to a temporary court order. Pingree suggested Interior Secretary Doug Burgum was allowing “decades of programmatic and institutional knowledge that is critically needed” to leave the agency. 

The concerns over staffing reductions were bipartisan. Rep. Mark Amodei, R-Nev., said those cuts were taking place “on top of a bunch of vacancies.” He said he supported efforts to make the department operate efficiently, but added “we also need the ability to operate." 

“I don't know how you can sit there and hold somebody's feet to the fire when there's a whole bunch of empty desks,” Amodei said. 

Burgum countered that components such as the Bureau of Land Management were made up of too many layers, including field offices, district offices, regional offices, state offices and the headquarters. His goal with his restructuring, the secretary said, was to get more people on frontlines. Rangers should be in the parks, biologists on the rangeland and appraisers assessing mining sites and land transfers, he added. 

“Those guys are the lifeblood of our agencies, the people that are working in these remote areas, and we need more of them,” Burgum said. “Frankly, we need less people in Washington, D.C.” 

He added people go into government to make a difference, not “push papers.” His efforts, he said, would result in more “meaningful, purposeful, effective jobs,” while also reducing costs. Employees and stakeholders, however, have suggested the cuts will severely hamper the department’s capacity to carry out critical functions, including those labeled a priority by Burgum and the Trump administration. 

In a confirmation before the Senate Finance Committee, Trump’s nominee to lead the Internal Revenue Service, former Rep. Billy Long, R-Mo., was repeatedly asked about staffing cuts and he largely declined to offer his thoughts. IRS has shed around 23,000 employees so far, or more than 20% of its workforce, with additional layoffs expected soon pending the resolution of a court order currently blocking them from taking effect. Additional cuts are expected to bring the total reductions to around 40% of the IRS workforce. 

Asked by Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt., whether some of the existing cuts should be reversed, Long demurred but said customer service needed to improve. 

“My opinion is that the phone service that I've been given to understand is lousy,” Long said. 

He added that he would seek to protect the IRS workforce as much as he could going forward. 

“I’m loyal to a fault,” Long said. “So if it’s within my power, I’m going to advocate for those people just like if it’s my family.” 

Pressed by Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., on staffing reductions leading to longer wait times for customer service in her state, Long noted, “I don't think having worse customer service is acceptable.”

Long faced repeated questions from Democrats on his work to refer friends to a firm advocating for allegedly fraudulent tax credits, with the former congressman saying he had no knowledge the credits were not legitimate. He also deflected questions surrounding potential conflicts of interests and a recent surge of donations to his long-defunct Senate campaign committee, saying he has complied with Office of Government Ethics and Federal Election Commission oversight. 

Despite the concerns, Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, who chairs the Senate Finance Committee that held Tuesday’s confirmation hearing, urged his colleagues to support Long and said he was the right man for the current moment. 

Long faced some bipartisan encouragement to support the IRS workforce, however. Sen. Todd Young. R-Ind., pushed the commissioner-designate to ensure the Taxpayer Advocate Service—an area of the agency reportedly slated for significant cuts—is adequately staffed.