GEOFF BENNETT: The Trump administration continues to hollow out the federal work force, and more cuts are in the forecast, despite courts largely siding with fired employees so far.

Let's bring in our Lisa Desjardins.

So, Lisa, let's start with the latest mass firings, now including the National Weather Service?

Bring us up to speed.

LISA DESJARDINS: That's correct.

This is in the past two days.

We have seen more firings.

That includes the National Weather forest -- sorry -- Service forecasters that work as part of NOAA.

So let's take a look at what is new here at the National Weather Service and NOAA, some 1,200 new firings just in the past few days.

That includes forecasters.

Also, I have confirmed that the IRS, at least 1,000 to 5,000 firings have been happening across the last week.

The current total, I have looked at every known mass fire in the last couple of weeks.

I have by my spreadsheet; 30,000-plus people have been fired by the Trump... GEOFF BENNETT: Thirty thousand people?

LISA DESJARDINS: That's correct, at least.

It's probably much more than that.

That's what's known.

Now, that does not include 7,000 people at the Social Security Administration who have been -- we have heard from them that they intend to fire those people.

That's not even in that total.

This is just the beginning.

Now, I also want to say that this is part of Elon Musk and President Trump saying that government needs to be downsized.

It needs to be more efficient.

But what they're doing here is instead sort of haphazardly targeting very wide groups of workers without clear reviews.

And it is leading to some protests around the country.

For example, this video was sent to me by a fired worker in West Virginia in Parkersburg, where they had a protest today.

If you want to take -- there you go.

PROTESTERS: Vote them out!

Vote them out!

Vote them out!

LISA DESJARDINS: So you heard them, "Vote them out, vote them out."

And in that crowd, Trump supporters who have been fired.

One person there told me they were denied unemployment after being fired from Treasury because they were fired supposedly for cause in those e-mails, even though they had high performance records.

GEOFF BENNETT: And Elon Musk's DOGE group is trying to find new ways to terminate federal workers.

Tell me more about that, because you have done a lot of reporting there.

LISA DESJARDINS: We have learned of two today.

One, there will be another e-mail asking federal workers, basically, what did you do last week?

This is a memorandum that went out to the Department of Defense that I obtained today saying that, on Monday, workers will get an e-mail saying, within 48 hours, they must respond next week on what they did this week.

You may remember, we reported there was mass confusion the last time this happened.

It's not clear if this e-mail will lead to firings for people who don't return it, but that is happening next week.

The other thing, the Department of Education, an agency that President Trump has said he wants to shut down, they sent out something interesting, an actual buyout offer today, offering employees $25,000, up to that amount, to leave their jobs.

They warned, if they don't, there will be mass firing soon.

They also -- if you read the fine print here though, they said if you take this offer, you cannot work for the federal government for five years.

And one worker who would otherwise consider it said it just looks sketchy to them and they're trying to take it in.

GEOFF BENNETT: So where does all of this stand with the courts?

LISA DESJARDINS: Well, there are dozens of lawsuits working through the courts, but I want to focus on one opinion that we heard last night from a federal judge in California.

This is District Northern California District Judge William Alsup.

He gave an opinion that said these mass firings of these probationary workers is not lawful, in his opinion.

However, he's not blocking it yet.

But when you talk to employment lawyers, they say this is a significant development.

MICHELLE BERCOVICI, Alden Law Group: It's really the first time where we've seen a court very clearly say that OPM is just acting aside of -- there's no authority in the universe that gives OPM to be directing agencies to fire employees.

And I think that determination is critical.

LISA DESJARDINS: Trump sees this as executive power, OPM, the Office of Personnel Management.

GEOFF BENNETT: And lastly, Lisa, I know you have been speaking with people, federal workers, who've lost their jobs in just this past week.

LISA DESJARDINS: Right.

GEOFF BENNETT: What have they told you?

LISA DESJARDINS: Right.

For workers, they are feeling obviously a lot of things.

But the number one thing I heard from them is that they see this as bringing down a system that has taken generations to build up of merit-based experts across government who really just want to do their job and help America around the world.

Now, when I talked to USAID workers yesterday as they were taking their belongings out of the office, you could see, collecting things from the headquarters, but there was a lot of emotion there.

So when you watch people there, the scene I witnessed there you see yesterday were people who've served around the world, some of them very emotional, some of them angry.

You saw a lot of hugs, as you see there.

Others were more a matter of fact about this and about what they think the United States is losing.

I talked to this couple who's getting ready to get married.

They both lost their jobs.

And they say that this is a loss for them and the country.

BEN THOMPSON, Fired USAID Worker: What a lot of people are going to respond to your questions about are very wide-scale policy things.

They're going to talk about DOGE and limits of power and all of that.

But, at the end of the day, there are people in the building that are crying and very good people trying to do the right thing and were punished for it.

And that's what's really hard about today.

LISA DESJARDINS: Workers I'm talking to are kind of tough.

They're not whiny people, but one said they feel harassed and hunted.

GEOFF BENNETT: Lisa Desjardins, thanks so much for this important reporting.

LISA DESJARDINS: You're welcome.