US pushes for streamlining, tension over leak case not over

Washington [US], March 29: CNN on March 28 quoted the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as saying that the department will cut 10,000 full-time employees in health agencies, after 10,000 employees voluntarily quit.
In total, HHS's full-time workforce has been reduced from about 82,000 to 62,000 employees. About 5,200 probationary employees were terminated last month. In a new announcement, HHS said it will streamline its departments from 28 to 15 and cut its regional offices from 10 to five. HHS estimates the streamlining will save $1.8 billion a year.
Regarding the overall streamlining of the apparatus, The Washington Post on March 28 cited an internal White House document revealing plans to cut 8-50% of staff at federal agencies. However, a White House official said the document had not been updated, and said that it was no secret that the Trump administration was persistent in streamlining the bureaucracy, cutting waste, fraud and abuse.
In an interview with Fox News on March 27, billionaire Elon Musk, who heads DOGE, described the agency's work as "revolutionary." "What seems like incredibly fast action by government standards has actually been slower than I would like, to be honest," he said of the streamlining process.
Regarding the leak, the US Senate Armed Services Committee on March 27 asked the Department of Defense to investigate, after an Atlantic journalist was added to a chat group of US officials on the Signal platform about plans to attack Houthi forces in Yemen. On the same day, US federal judge James Boasberg ruled that relevant agencies must preserve messages on Signal from March 11 to 15.
According to The Hill , US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is being criticized by Republican lawmakers for his responsibility in the incident. "It was the first attack on the early stages of the administration. Never let it happen again," warned Senator Kevin Cramer, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee. Another Republican congressman revealed that Mr. Trump was "not happy" but so far still supports Secretary Hegseth and National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, who is said to have assembled the chat group.
In another development, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on March 27 that at least 300 international students had their visas revoked. Earlier, Axios reported that the US government wanted universities to stop accepting international students who were considered to have a "supportive stance towards Hamas" in the Gaza Strip.
Source: Thanh Nien Newspaper