AG Kris Mayes works to stop actions of Trump, Musk and DOGE amid federal layoffs

PHOENIX - The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) announced a new deadline for federal employees as the Trump administration and Elon Musk say they're taking swift action against federal waste.

Many government employees say they are caught in the middle.

What we know:

In an email sent on the night of Feb. 22, federal workers were told they have until Monday, Feb. 24 at 11:59 p.m., to list five work accomplishments from the prior week, or be at risk of losing their jobs.

Some agency heads, including Trump appointees, have told their staff to ignore the emails.

Musk's email to federal employees comes on the heels of thousands of government layoffs already since Trump's inauguration, as well as the freezing of some federal grant funding.

The email came just hours after Trump encouraged him on social media to "get more aggressive" in reducing the size of the government.

Local perspective:

Some states, including Arizona, are filing lawsuits to stop DOGE's actions.

On Feb. 23, we spoke with Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes, who currently has several lawsuits filed against Trump, Elon Musk and DOGE.

Mayes says this is an example of how broken the system currently is.

"It actually is going to be evidence in my case against Elon Musk and Donald Trump and DOGE because it demonstrates that he actually is in charge and that violates the separation of powers, and it violates the Appointments Clause in the Constitution, so you know, obviously, it's bad for America, but it's going to be part of our litigation to try to stop this," Mayes said.

She says firefighters have lost their jobs.

"We just had hotshots fired in Payson right before wildfire season. They tried to defund my efforts to go against the Mexican drug cartels. That was funding that we need to protect Arizonans against the Mexican drug cartels. That's nuts," she said.

Richard Hernandez with the Federal Correctional Complex in Tucson says employees are left with countless questions after receiving Musk's email 

"The response has been angry, has been confused. There was just mass confusion," he said. "We tried to get confirmation from the agency on what's going on. We're just being told they're awaiting instructions, but they're not really telling us that we don't have to respond or that we won't be fired, they're just telling us that they're awaiting instructions."

What they're saying:

Arizona voters shared their thoughts on doge's efforts as well.

"There's always room for more efficiency in government, but the way it's being done seems completely reckless. Absolutely no strategy, no thoughtfulness, and I don't think we'll really know what the consequences are for weeks, months, even years, but I think we can all see that there will be consequences," said Aaron Blocher-Rubin.

One of the voters offered some advice of his own to government workers.

"I know what my job is, I know what I'm supposed to be doing. I would just say I was doing those type of things. I would exaggerate them way over the wall, so at least I don't get fired and if they're firing people who did not do their job, that wouldn't be me," Dwayne Stone said.

Meanwhile, actual federal employees say they're keeping a close on Washington D.C., and not social media.

"As this stuff rolls out, we'll be watching the responses and the votes of our public officials as they vote for funding and as they vote to keep our jobs. We represent 30,000 correctional officers, but federal employees are three million strong," Hernandez  said.

He says he's concerned about how these cuts will affect staff retention and recruitment.

'Complete gutting of agencies …’

"It's outrageous. We've already seen over the last couple of weeks complete gutting of agencies. I've talked to federal employees directly who have been under such threat and are truly fearful. They are being censored, they are being either forced to quit, in some cases, fired, without any explanation whatsoever," said Arizona Rep. Yassamin Ansari.

The other side:

There are politicians in Arizona who are in support of the scrutinization of federal services and spending.

Republican Congressman Eli Crane shared his support for Musk's DOGE, saying on X, "The American people have a right to know how THEIR money is being spent. Swampy politicians have hid their efforts for too long. A $36 trillion dollar debt wasn’t an accident. Thankfully, we live in a new era of transparency."

GOP Congressman Abe Hamadeh agreed, saying, "It's sad it's taken us this long to get to the bottom of how wasteful the bureaucrats & the federal government have been with our hard-earned tax dollars. It's infuriating watching the mainstream media pretend these discoveries are no big deal. It's obvious why these propagandists have lost all influence."

Arizona Rep. Andy Biggs said, "Just last year for the first time, our payments on interest on our debted loan eclipsed our defense budget. Meanwhile, we're losing hundreds of billions of dollars annually to waste, fraud, abuse, improper payments, etc."

Arizona PoliticsDonald J. TrumpNewsArizonaU.S.Elon MuskJobs & UnemploymentKris Mayes