(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) Newly sworn-in Argentina President Javier Milei purged over 5,000 government bureaucrats, fulfilling a campaign pledge to reduce the size of the inflation-burdened federal government.
According to the Spanish-language newspaper El Pais, Milei signed an executive order to halt the contracts of federal workers hired in 2023, likely targeting individuals hired by his former leftist predecessor.
The order came after the capitalist president vowed to rescue Argentina from widespread corruption, inflation and wasteful government spending.
El Pais reported that some disabled and indispensable employees will be exempt from the layoffs. However, the Argentine government announced a comprehensive audit within the next 90 days, hinting at potential future layoffs.
Milei also downsized his federal cabinet to nine members, half the count of his far-left predecessor, Alberto Fernández. According to government figures cited by El Pais, a total of 3.5 million individuals hold taxpayer-funded employment in Argentina.
Milei’s rise to power has drawn comparisons to that of former President Donald Trump. In several Truth Social posts, Trump celebrated Milei’s election victory last month.
Trump, currently running for president in 2024, doubled down on his pledge to his commitment to “demolish the Deep State.”
As part of his second-term agenda, Trump vowed to reinstate a 2020-era executive order directing federal agencies to reclassify civil service employees from “competitive” to “excepted” service, making it easier for the president to dismiss government bureaucrats. Biden revoked the executive order on his second day in office.
In a video posted on his website, Trump said: “For 200 years under our system of government, it was undisputed that the President had the Constitutional power to stop unnecessary spending through what is known as Impoundment.”
He added, “I will use the president’s long-recognized Impoundment Power to squeeze the bloated federal bureaucracy for massive savings. This will be in the form of tax reductions for you. This will help quickly to stop inflation and slash the deficit.”
