President Donald Trump is continuing the trend of government cost-cutting, and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) isn’t immune. The Trump administration and the new Elon Musk-headed DOGE are targeting jobs at the safety regulatory agency with layoffs. 

Government cost-cutting continues and NHTSA jobs are on the menu

Tesla CEO Elon Musk, one of the heads of the newly-minted Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), has taken cost-cutting mandates from US President Donald Trump and ran with them. The latest casualties of the government-leaning measures are jobs at the NHTSA, one of the agencies for ensuring that new cars, trucks, SUVs, and minivans meet specific safety requirements.

The layoffs target primarily new employees with less than one year on the job. As a result, many of the termination notices cite probationary employees before they can finish their probation and become civil servants. Layoffs at the NHTSA are just some of the latest impacts of the government-wide push to decrease federal spending.

Terminated employees weren’t in the ‘public interest’

Unfortunately, the layoffs’ human impact is unpleasant and then some. One NHTSA employee recounted the sour nature of his termination. The termination letter, which the unnamed probationary employee shared with Politico, included verbiage from the NHTSA’s director, Jack Danielson. “A probationer has the burden to demonstrate why it is in the public interest for the Government to finalize their appointment to the civil service,” the letter read. 

It then goes on to say, “Based on your performance you have not demonstrated that your further employment at the Department of Transportation — NHTSA would be in the public interest.” Another probationary employee, Ian O’Dowd, was a traffic safety researcher before his termination. “I received an email Friday evening that said I was being removed from my role as a Research Psychologist at NHTSA with no notice or severance.” He goes on to say it’s been difficult “mental health-wise.” 

Of the NHTSA’s most important responsibilities, the agency conducts safety tests for modern automobiles. The tests include crashworthiness evaluations as well as active and passive safety features.

It’s not just the NHTSA, either. The Trump administration and Elon Musk’s cost-cutting initiatives are impacting federal jobs across multiple agencies. The Maritime Administration (MARAD) and the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) of the DOT also lost jobs.

The latter is the agency responsible for monitoring and regulating the safety of the nation’s pipelines. Like the NHTSA job cuts, the PHMSA layoffs seem to target employees with less than one year’s experience, suggesting at least temporary security for workers with longer tenures.