‘I’m already done with version 2.0’: Inside federal agencies where workers fear for jobs under Trump’s administration
‘I’m already done with version 2.0’: Inside federal agencies where workers fear for jobs under Trump’s administration
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It is only a week old, but some federal workers are already fed up with Trump’s second administration. After just one week under Donald Trump’s leadership, some federal workers say they are already “done” with his second presidency. An Environmental Protection Agency staffer told the outlet: “Trump version 1.0 was bad. I’m already done with version 2.0.”.
![[In his first week in office, Trump signed orders requiring federal employees to return to work in person, ending DEI programs, imposing a federal hiring freeze]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/01/26/20/SEI237350194.jpg)
The Office of Personnel Management sent out a memo this week warning federal employees against trying to “disguise [DEI] programs by using coded or imprecise language.” The memo stated that failing to report this information within 10 days ”may result in adverse consequences.”.
Others in need of a paycheck say they are “terrified” about leaving their current jobs. “I would love to leave, but I don’t know where I’d go, and I am terrified of not being able to pay rent and not having healthcare,” one State Department staffer told the outlet.
Others still are waiting to see how the orders shape up before making any career changes. “Most of us are watching cautiously and letting the dust settle,” an employee at the U.S. Agency for International Development told the outlet. “We know that there is a range of possible outcomes, and some people are panicking, but most are taking a wait-and-see approach.”.
The clock is ticking. A spokesperson told the outlet it “will be tracking how agencies implement the orders and will be prepared to file grievances if our contracts are violated.”. “Requiring federal employees to come to the office five days a week would result in a wave of voluntary terminations that we welcome: If federal employees don’t want to show up, American taxpayers shouldn’t pay them for the Covid-era privilege of staying home,” the pair wrote.
