Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski complained as many as 100 Alaska federal workers have been let go by the Trump Administration’s cost-cutting measures from the Department of Government Efficiency.
But she wasn’t specific and apparently did not know the number, but she did know some of the terminations “would do more harm than good.”
Sen. Dan Sullivan was more careful in his response to the reduction in the federal workforce, saying that the actual number is not yet known and he is looking into it.
“Regarding the reported federal position cuts in Alaska: Job losses are always difficult on families and communities, especially in a tight-knit state like ours. I am working diligently to gather more information on what federal positions in Alaska have been cut and how they impact local communities,” Sullivan wrote. “Many of us remember how communities were struggling when thousands of jobs in our resource sector were lost in Alaska and America in large part because of the relentless war waged by both the Obama and Biden administrations against the energy sector. This sector is the backbone of our state’s economy, supporting tens of thousands of direct and indirect jobs and small businesses that support working families. I am working relentlessly with the Trump administration to bring those jobs, and more private-sector opportunities, back to our state.”
For now, federal workers can always turn to the State of Alaska, which currently has 365 vacancies listed. Democrats in the House and Senate repeatedly say that because there is no defined benefits pension plan, Alaska can’t attract or keep state workers. But that may be a distant memory if Murkowski is right and there are 100 people looking for government jobs.
At the State of Alaska, there are jobs for accountants and correctional officers, and the Alaska Marine Highway System has a vacancy rate of about 24%.
View all the job listings at the State of Alaska at this link.
According to the the publication Government Executive, here are nationwide figures for the reduction in workforce:
Agriculture Department
- Forest Service – 2,400
- Food and Nutrition Service – number unknown
Commerce Department
- National Weather Service – number unconfirmed.
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau – 70, according to the union representing National Treasury employees.
Defense Department – number unconfirmed.
Education Department – 60, according to the American Federation of Government Employees.
Energy Department – number unconfirmed, but employees shared their notices with Government Executive.
- National Nuclear Security Administration – number unconfirmed.
Environmental Protection Agency – 388, the agency reported, less than half of its probationary employees.
General Services Administration – 100 or more.
Health and Human Services Department – number unconfirmed.
Homeland Security Department – 400 or more.
Office of Personnel Management – number unconfirmed.
NASA – number unconfirmed.
National Science Foundation – 168.
Small Business Administration – number unconfirmed.
Transportation Department – up to 300 at the Federal Aviation Administration.
U.S. Department of Government Efficiency Service (formerly U.S. Digital Service) – number unconfirmed.
Veterans Affairs Department – 1,000.
Today President Trump reported he is firing all of the attorneys at the Department of Justice that were hired under the Biden Administration. That ought to generate a few lawsuits from the legal eagles that had been going after him on the public dime for the past four years.
