President Donald Trump held his first Cabinet meeting on February 26, 2025, during which he criticized the American people and voiced complaints over government spending. He ended the meeting by describing the country as “bloated, fat, disgusting,” and blamed former President Joe Biden for this decline.
Notably, Trump’s physical condition has often been a topic of public conversation. During a 2023 booking at a jail in Atlanta, Georgia—related to charges tied to his efforts to overturn the 2020 election results—Trump, who stands at 6’3″, reported his weight as 215 pounds, which is 30 pounds less than his last official White House physical.
At the age of 78, the president, who is known for his preference for McDonald’s burgers and the recently restored Diet Coke button in the Oval Office, persisted in his tirade against Biden, accusing him of irresponsible government spending.
A reporter whose identity was not revealed asked about a performance review email sent to federal workers. The question was about the schedule for a follow-up and whether responses were compulsory, to which Trump provided more information. The Office of Personnel Management had previously sent an email to millions of federal workers, requiring them to list five achievements from the previous week, with a strict deadline of February 24 at 11:59 pm EST.
Elon Musk, the head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), chimed in with his opinion, stating, “Failure to respond will be taken as a resignation.” By February 25, the White House announced that approximately one million workers had complied, leaving a considerable number unaccounted for. Trump confirmed during the Cabinet meeting that a second email would be sent to the non-responders.
“They’re questionable,” Trump commented about the unresponsive federal employees. “Do they exist? Who are they? There’s a high likelihood many will be terminated. And if that’s the case, it’s acceptable, because that’s our objective.”
Trump further clarified that his administration feels obligated to reduce federal funding and workforce numbers due to what he perceives as mismanagement by the previous administration.
This move to cut down the federal workforce is in line with a broader plan. The Trump administration recently required federal departments and agencies to submit reorganization plans by March 13, outlining how they would implement substantial layoffs. The reason? The federal government is “expensive, inefficient, and heavily indebted,” and “not delivering results for the American public,” according to administration documents.
While Trump has consistently criticized his predecessor, some experts question the effectiveness of his proposed federal workforce reduction plan. An analysis by the Brookings Institution suggests that offering federal workers buyouts would only save about $10.8 billion annually—a minor reduction in the federal deficit. The analysis also cautions that such cuts could disrupt essential government services, like air traffic control, potentially causing public anger and accidents.
Furthermore, implementing such broad changes carries political risks. The Brookings analysis notes that implementation failures can be “politically damaging for presidents,” as they are often held responsible for government disruptions, even for issues they didn’t directly cause.
Efforts to reduce the federal workforce have been underway since the Trump administration took office in January, which included mass layoffs of thousands of probationary federal employees from agencies like the CDC, Forest Service, and Department of Interior. Democratic lawmakers have criticized these actions, stating they harm government services and negatively impact public servants’ careers.
On February 27, a federal judge in San Francisco, California, ruled that the mass termination of probationary employees was likely illegal, providing temporary relief to a group of labor unions and organizations that had filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration’s extensive effort to reduce the federal workforce. U.S. District Judge William Alsup directed the Office of Personnel Management to inform specific federal agencies, such as the Department of Defense, that it did not have the authority to mandate the termination of probationary employees.
“OPM does not have any authority whatsoever, under any statute in the history of the universe,” to hire or fire any employees except its own, Alsup said.
Lawyers representing the coalition celebrated the ruling, even as it does not guarantee the reemployment of dismissed employees or rule out the possibility of future terminations. Danielle Leonard, an attorney representing the coalition, stated after the hearing that the practical implication is that federal government agencies should recognize the court’s warning that the order was unlawful.
