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The US Justice Department has confirmed the departure of 4,000 employees under President Donald Trump’s controversial workforce reduction initiative, press reports said on Tuesday.

The job losses stem from the “fork in the road” deferred resignation program, which offered incentives for early exit in exchange for estimated savings of $470 million, according to CBS News.

Additional cuts are expected, including the elimination of 1,500 positions at the FBI, 700 of which are currently vacant.

“Capitalizing on increased efficiency, FBI will prioritize core missions of securing the border, eliminating transnational criminal organizations, reinforcing national security, and protecting the American people from violent crime,” the department’s budget summary said.

Stacey Young, a former Justice Department attorney and executive director of Justice Connection, a network of former department employees, said: “Many of those who resigned wanted to stay, but they were told to take the offer or face termination.”

Thomas Chittum, a former assistant director at the department’s Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, warned the cuts would “undermine long-term effectiveness” of federal law enforcement.

Plans also include closing the Community Relations Service, a civil rights-era office with 56 employees focused on racial conflict resolution.

The cuts began under billionaire Elon Musk’s unofficial Department of Government Efficiency, which billed itself as a cost-cutting measure, though government spending has gone up under Trump.

Critics have called the job cuts – in areas ranging from nuclear safety to weather forecasting, and beyond – both indiscriminate and illegal. In numerous cases, government employees have been fired only to be quickly rehired when it became clear they did critical work.