The Trump administration and Elon Musk’s DOGE continue the slash-and-burn approach to thinning government bureaucracy. Now, the powers that be have shifted their attention to the NHTSA, the federal agency charged with safety regulation for America’s roads and vehicles. However, a labor attorney says that the mass firings of federal employees will produce a bill. And that bill is going to be costly when it comes due. 

A legal expert says the Trump administration’s mass firing of NHTSA and federal employees will cost the government big-time

Last week, President Donald Trump’s administration targeted the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) with termination notices. Most of the terminations focused on junior and probationary employees, namely those with less than one year on the job. 

The firings came as a shock and disappointment for many of the transportation regulatory agency’s employees. One of the vehicle safety agency’s employees, a psychologist, shared his grief after losing his position. “Along with so many others in the federal service, 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,” a former NHTSA employee told POLITICO.

Moreover, those on the Trump administration’s chopping block received notices suggesting that their performance was poor enough to warrant termination. One former employee shared a termination memo that said probationary employees had to “demonstrate why it is in the public interest for the Government to finalize their appointment to the civil service.” 

As for that employee, the memo 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.”

However, the firings, conducted in the name of cost-cutting and leaning out the federal workforce, could lead to a “monumental bill,” per The Guardian. Labor attorney Suzanne Summerlin says the indiscriminate terminations of federal employees will lead to a veritable storm of owed money.

“These firings they’re conducting without following the law will result in hundreds of thousands of former federal employees being owed back pay, plus interest, plus benefits, plus attorneys fees,” Summerlin said. She then ominously added, “When the bill comes it will be monumental.”

Of course, the NHTSA does an important job. For starters, the agency conducts crash testing and safety evaluations of new vehicles. However, the NHTSA also conducts research and issues recall notices for defective, even dangerous issues. Now, the agency will have to strive to be as efficient at keeping Americans safe with a smaller workforce.