Trump to cut between 8% and 50% of staff at 22 government agencies, stunning leaked memo reveals

The massive extent of planned government-wide staff cuts is revealed in an internal Trump administration memo showing a plan to slash the Treasury by a third and the Department of Housing and Urban Development by half.

Those numbers, contained on a memo that was penned a week ago, come amid looming Reductions in Force that are expected to slash government payrolls.

Trump tasked federal agency heads to draw up plans for slashing their own ranks, with a timeline setting up the widescale RIFs next month. 

Among the agencies absorbing stiff cuts are the Small Business Administration, at 43 percent, and HUD, at 50 percent, according to the memo, the Washington Post reported. 

Cuts at the Education Department, which Trump has asked Secretary Linda McMaho to pare by half, are expected to save $6 billion, with another $1.9 billion coming from cuts at the Justice Department through an 8 percent cut there.

The National Science Foundation, long considered funding favorite among members of Congress from both parties, is facing a 28 percent cut, while the Commerce Department is facing a 30 percent.

At the Treasury, which includes the Internal Revenue Service, cuts are projected to reach 30 percent. The Post reported Saturday that officials anticipate a drop in tax revenue of more than 10 percent, or $500 billion. 

Trump cabinet officials have been praising the cuts by Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency at cabinet meetings and other public events.

Among them is Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, who told DailyMail.com 'the bottom line is that the entire cabinet is aligned, is supportive and understands the president's vision that is being effectuated by Elon Musk and in partnership with all of the agencies, of course USDA, one of the largest agencies, over 100,000 employees ...  some of the Reductions in Force that we're doing. We will never stop working for the American people.'

She did not comment specifically on emails sent to fired probationary employees who were told 'based on your performance, you have not demonstrated that your further employment at the agency would be in the public interest.' Some of the probationary employees getting fired at her agency work in food inspections, as the administration seeks to tackle a bird flu outbreak.

The White House did not immediately respond to a question about whether the cuts had grown or been reduced since last week. 

At the Department of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. has announced layoffs of 10,000 for a total loss of 20,000 workers in a restructuring.

The agency says it will bring the workforce to 62,000 from 82,000, and claims the move will save $1.8 billion.

'The restructuring will address this and serve multiple goals without impacting critical services,' the agency said in a press release.

According to an HHS fact sheet, that includes reducing the Food and Drug Administration by 3,500 full-time employees, the Centers for Disease Control by 2,400 employees, and the National Institutes of Health by 1,200 employees. 

Musk spoke to Bret Baier of Fox News about the potential cost savings, although he did not directly respond when asked how much he had achieved 'so far.'

'At a high level ... we want to reduce the spending by eliminating waste—reduce the spending by 15%. Which seems really quite achievable. The government is not efficient and there is a lot of waste and fraud,' Musk said.

He also said amid some high-profile mistakes such as firing and then hiring back nuclear safety workers, that 'When we do make mistakes we correct them quickly and we move on.'

The mass firings are likely unlawful, will likely be challenged in court. And we also know that it does nothing to improve the health, safety and economic well being of the American people. It will hurt it.'