The cruelty is the point. Never forget that simple but sharp observation. The point is to make an example of federal workers. They are the scapegoats now. Every power grab needs scapegoats to justify the power grab. The more the scapegoats suffer hardships, the better. It has to be public humiliation.
This a million times. The architects of this have been telling us for decades what they want. They want to drown government in the proverbial bathtub. On mobile so I can get a link to the quote from decades ago.