More than 200,000 federal worker positions have been eliminated, and 75,000 employees have accepted buyouts since President Donald Trump took office.

Luke Tobin, a 24-year-old forestry technician who worked for the U.S. Forest Service in Idaho’s Nez Perce National Forest, who was fired from his job Feb. 14, finds the accusations of waste by Musk and others laughable. He sees extreme understaffing and threadbare budgets.

Sweeping cuts by DOGE leave highly trained experts, like wildlife biologists or consumer protection specialists, with few lateral job options.