Republicans also worried
US Ministry “accidentally” fires bird flu experts
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The body created by Musk in the USA to increase efficiency again causes excitement. First employees of the Ministry of Agriculture are released, now they should return. This is mainly due to the fact that the bird flu continues to rage.
The comprehensive cuts in authorities have led to “accidental” dismissals of employees in the US Department Ministry (USDA), reports NBC. Since some of them were busy combating the bird flu that were currently rampant in the USA, the authority is now trying to get the employees back quickly.
“Although several places were terminated to support the bird flu fighting at the weekend, we are working on cleaning up the situation quickly and taking these letters back,” said a USDA spokesman in a statement. The workers who are necessary to ensure the security and adequate supply of food and to meet the legal mandate is also set.
The spokesman pointed out that some parts of the authority have already been excluded from comprehensive cuts by the new government of President Donald Trump. The response to the high -taught bird flu continues to be given priority.
Ministry lack contact details to ex-employees
It is already the second incident of this kind since Elon Musk and his team of the unofficial body for increasing efficiency (Doge) mass layoffs in many US authorities. A few days ago, numerous employees of the authority for nuclear security had already been released. Many dismissals were given by email and not in personal conversations. Shortly afterwards it was found that the employees are essential. Attempts to move them to return often failed. Often there were no contact details after deleting the employee accounts.
In the case of the now dismissed, it is obviously similar: they are needed in the Brooke Rollins ministry. In the United States, the poultry stocks by the bird flu have already been significantly decimated, reports NBC. The latest data from the USDA show that 151 confirmed stocks are affected in terms of 23 million birds. This has several consequences. On the one hand, the centers for epithet control and prevention report that 68 cases have already been registered in which people would have infected with the virus.
Egg price could continue to rise
In addition, egg prices recently increased enormously. In many supermarkets there are signs that indicate the emergency. Already in December a twelve pack of eggs from cage farming cost $ 4.15. Before the Corona pandemic, it was $ 1.20 in summer 2019. And the price could continue to rise, the Ministry of Agriculture explains around 20 percent a week ago.
Therefore, the layoffs of necessary employees are now also causing criticism among Trump's Republicans. Republican sources told NBC that these cuts could hinder an appropriate response to bird flu. In addition, it was complained that the government provided hardly any information about the program cuts and personnel layouts in the USDA. Among the Republicans in the Agricultural Committee of the House of Representatives should spread some frustration.
Republicans criticize layoffs
“You have to be more careful,” said Don Bacon, a member of the Agricultural Committee, to NBC about the Doge team around Elon Musk. “There is an old saying: 'Measure twice, cut it once'. Well, they measure once and have to cut twice,” said Bacon. “I only wish you made a better decision in advance.”
In a similar way, Keith Poulsen, director of the Wisconsin Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory, also commented, since the layoffs also affected researchers who are dealing with bird flu. The release of three employees of the National Animal Health Laboratory Network of the USDA would impair efforts to combat the spread of the virus: “That creates a lot of problems,” he said.
In the past few days, the Trump government has released authorities who are in the trial period. According to data from the Office of Personnel Management, the step could affect hundreds of thousands of people. A spokesman for the authority said that the administration could not provide any precise information about how many people were dismissed.
