WASHINGTON D.C. — Sen. John Curtis, R-Utah, is calling on U.S. leaders to be more compassionate as layoffs of federal workers continue.
In an interview with CBS’s Face the Nation this morning, Curtis defended the Trump administration’s efforts to reduce the federal workforce, echoing remarks he made to KSL last week.
Thousands of employees from the National Park Service, the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, the Department of Veteran Affairs, and other agencies have been fired.
He stated that the majority of Americans have asked for change, and we are now seeing it. Curtis stated that the country has attempted to make subtle changes over time, but they have not been effective.
“We all knew what we were getting with President Trump,” he said. “Nobody should be really surprised at these dramatic shocks to the system.”
In an op-ed for the Deseret News, Curtis stated that the nation’s debt cannot be ignored.
He wrote, among other things, “What President Trump is doing now — scrutinising government spending on programmes and employees through the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and looking for areas to trim — is something any responsible executive would do.”
On “Face the Nation,” Curtis was asked about an email sent to federal employees instructing them to list five things they accomplished in the previous week and copy their supervisor in their response.
Elon Musk, who has been advising the president on this matter, wrote on X that “failure to respond will be taken as a resignation.”
“We all know…federal workers who are good people and work hard, but the reality is that we have three million federal employees.” Not everyone does. “Many aren’t coming to work,” he said, referring to remote workers.
According to Curtis, it is not unusual to request that remote workers report on their progress. But he did ask officials to be compassionate and dignified when making these cuts.
His words were: “I agree with those concerned that the DOGE approach has appeared reckless and rash and that we should show more compassion and dignity to those affected by its mission.”
“If I could say one thing to Elon Musk, it’s like, please put a dose of compassion in this,” the billionaire told CBS. “These are real people, these are real lives, these are real mortgages.”
The email sent to federal employees stated that they had until 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time Monday to respond. Some agencies have instructed their employees not to respond.
