It’s just being reported by taxpayer funded Politico that the US Forest Service is going to fire thousands of employees, around 10% of their workforce, since the deadline for the buyout program has passed.

Here’s the report:

The U.S. Forest Service will fire roughly 3,400 federal employees across every level of the agency beginning Thursday, according to two people familiar with the plans.

The move targets employees who are still within their probationary period, which means it’s easier for them to be let go.

Public safety employees at USFS are exempt from the firing. While firefighter jobs appear to be unaffected, other roles that support wildfire prevention are being cut. Employees who work on road and trail maintenance, timber production and watershed restoration are also impacted.

The layoffs come one day after the deadline for the Trump administration’s “Fork in the Road” program, which encouraged employees to resign but stay on the government payroll through September. It’s not yet clear how many USDA employees accepted the deferred resignation option.

The Forest Service did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

This move to thin down the monstrosity of the federal government is long overdue. While I hate to see anyone lose their jobs, this is what President Trump said would happen and it is a must.

I believe it’s been reported that around 75,000 federal employees took the buyout program. So this gets us to nearly 80,000 over all that will be leaving the administration. I’m sure that number will increase quite a bit with more agencies firing employees.