AFGE President Everett Kelley pushed back on the incoming administration’s plan to drastically cut the federal workforce and agencies without analyzing the impact they have on the American people. 

Appearing on C-SPAN Nov. 22, Kelley responded to recent statements by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy that 75% of the federal workforce and agencies need to be cut in addition to the use of reduction in force and moving federal agencies outside Washington, D.C. The business duo, who have no previous experience in government, have been tasked by Trump to lead the newly created Department of Government Efficiency.  

“First of all, when you say you want to cut them without further analyzing and see what our government really needs, I think is misguided,” Kelley said. “I welcome an opportunity to sit down and talk about how we can make the government more efficient. To think that you can take the federal employees inside of D.C. and send them out into the states to work, well guess what? Only 15% of federal employees work inside of D.C. They’re already dispersed throughout the United States. I just think that they need to educate themselves on what federal employees really do and where they are located.” 

To make the government more efficient, Kelley pointed to Medicare, which has an opportunity to save $60 billion by combating fraud. Tax evasion also cost the government $1 trillion this year alone. 

The AFGE president took issue with Musk and Ramaswamy calling federal workers “bureaucrats,” reminding them that these employees are Veteran Affairs doctors and nurses taking care of our country’s veterans, Transportation Security Officers who keep our skies safe, the meat inspectors who make sure the food we eat is safe, Bureau of Prisons correctional officers who protect their communities, Social Security Administration workers who cut checks to seniors, and the list goes on. 

“It’s a little patronizing to even think about the possibility of cutting 75% of the federal workforce. I see it as a direct attack against veterans. I am a veteran myself. Of the workforce, about 642,000 of that workforce are veterans, so when you say you’re gonna cut 75%, that means it’s a direct attack on veterans and I am appalled by that,” Kelley added.  

He also doesn’t think the new administration is trying to make the government more efficient. Rather, they want to drive away workers so they can give the jobs to contractors who are two to three times more expensive than federal employees.  

As a federal contractor, Musk himself has benefited from taxpayers’ dollars. 

“It’s not a matter of not their patriotism of people that I represent. It’s about the bottom line. It’s about making the dollar,” Kelley said. 

Kelley has also appeared on CNN and wrote a letter to the editor to the Wall Street Journal combating the slash and burn philosophy of Musk and Ramaswamy.