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Federal employees are on edge as President-elect Donald Trump pledges to relocate government agencies, reduce the workforce and replace some non-partisan positions with political appointees during his second term. “Overall, they’re scared,�� said Randy Erwin, who serves as president of the National Federation of Federal Employees. The union represents roughly 110,000 government workers across the country. Currently, about 4,000 of the more than 2 million federal employees are considered political appointees who usually change with each administration. At the end of �հ��ܳ���’s first term, he sought to reclassify thousands of career positions, stripping them of job protections and paving the way to increase the number of appointees. �հ��ܳ���’s campaign agenda lists reinstating that executive order as the first step in his plan to “dismantle the deep state and reclaim our democracy from Washington corruption.��"I will immediately re-issue my 2020 Executive Order restoring the President's authority to remove rogue bureaucrats and I will wield that power very aggressively,�� Trump said in a campaign video. But Erwin fears Trump will push out experts and pack federal agencies with loyalists. "They're going to be replaced with people who are there for their political loyalty. They're not there because they are the best, brightest and most capable of leading those agencies,�� Erwin said. "Unequivocally, the government will perform worse."Trump is also tapping billionaire Elon Musk and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy to lead what's being dubbed the “Department of Government Efficiency."Despite being branded as a department, Trump says they will operate outside of the government to offer advice on slashing regulations, restructuring government agencies and cutting federal spending. A post on the department’s newly launched “X�� account calls for “super high-IQ small-government revolutionaries willing to work 80+ hours per week on unglamorous cost-cutting�� to “DM�� their applications. "Your money is being wasted--and the Department of Government Efficiency is going to fix that,�� Musk said during a recent campaign event with Trump. During that rally, Musk set a goal of cutting $2 trillion dollars, or roughly one-third of the federal budget. "You cannot get to $2 trillion in cuts or anywhere near it without raiding Medicare, raiding Social Security and absolutely decimating every federal agency in the federal government,�� Erwin said. Trump has said he will not make cuts to Social Security and Medicare. Other budget cuts recommended by the Department of Government Efficiency would need to be approved by Congress, which will be controlled by Republicans next session. “No unilaterally appointed group of self proclaimed experts is going to themselves decide to shed the government of federal employees. Congress has got the power of the purse,�� said Senator Tim Kaine, a Democratic Senator from Virginia, which is home to many federal workers.Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget President Maya MacGuineas said it’s still unclear how the department itself will be funded but, in a statement, she praised the new initiative. “We welcome the creation of a new entity to get under the hood of the federal government and look for ways to reduce inefficiencies and generate fiscal savings,�� MacGuineas said. “Importantly, the process will need to be as bipartisan as possible in order to help with the deliverability and implementation of ideas.�� Senator Kaine said �հ��ܳ���’s plan to eliminate the U.S. The Department of Education and send resources back to the states will require Congressional approval. In the past, similar proposals have been shot down.Trump could face other roadblocks. The Biden administration implemented regulations that they say will make it harder to fire federal employees currently in career positions. The Trump administration can draft new rules, but that process is expected to take months.As for relocating federal agencies, Trump has done this before, moving the Bureau of Land Management to Colorado during his first term. Trump says the Department of Government Efficiency will conclude their work by July 4, 2026.