Trump Calls for ‘Scalpel’ Over ‘Hatchet’ in Federal Job Cuts

President Donald Trump said on March 6 that he had instructed his administration to take a more targeted approach to federal workforce reductions to ensure retention of the most productive people.

He said all are committed to the overarching aim of making government more efficient and reducing federal spending at a “historic level,” but the time has come for a more targeted approach. Trump also highlighted that it is department heads, rather than Musk or DOGE, who have ultimate authority over who to fire.

“Now that we have my Cabinet in place, I have instructed the Secretaries and Leadership to work with DOGE on Cost Cutting measures and Staffing,” Trump wrote. “As the Secretaries learn about, and understand, the people working for the various Departments, they can be very precise as to who will remain, and who will go. We say the ’scalpel‘ rather than the ’hatchet.’”

The president insisted that his push for a leaner bureaucracy remains intact but he does not want capable and needed federal workers to be fired en masse.

“It’s very important that we cut levels down to where they should be, but it’s also important to keep the best and most productive people,” Trump wrote. “We’re going to have these meetings every two weeks until that aspect of this very necessary job is done.”

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Trump reiterated this message in remarks to reporters after the meeting. He said that the government workforce—which counts around 2.3 million—is “out of control” and that he wants Cabinet members to take the lead on trimming staff. “If they can cut, it’s better. And if they don’t cut, then Elon will do the cutting.”

Trump added: “But I want them to do the best job they can where we have good people, those that are precious. It’s very important, and we want them to keep the good people.”

It comes after weeks of turmoil in Washington, where tens of thousands of federal employees have been abruptly dismissed in what critics have called a reckless purge. The terminations have faced criticism and legal challenges.

Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak has criticized the mass firings, describing them as a “sledgehammer” approach.

Wozniak said a better approach is to be more measured in analyzing what works and what doesn’t, and then make the cuts “more surgically, with a scalpel instead of a sledgehammer.”

In a speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference on Feb. 22, he said he wants to enforce stricter workplace attendance, eliminate remote work privileges, and expose government employees engaged in outside employment.

“We want to make government smaller, more efficient. We want to keep the best people, and we’re not going to keep the worst people,” Trump said at CPAC.

There is no official count of total firings and layoffs so far. A review of multiple reports indicates that at least 20,000 people have been let go, while another 75,000 have accepted deferred resignations—bringing the total number of affected individuals to nearly 100,000.