WASHINGTON – A large number of newly employed federal workers were terminated Thursday and Friday as President Donald Trump and high-ranking White House official Elon Musk intensified efforts to cleanse the federal workforce.
These layoffs primarily affected probationary workers across various departments, who were mostly hired in the last year. Because they lack the appeal rights of career employees, probationary workers can be dismissed with greater ease.
The terminations occurred government-wide, affecting personnel from the Department of Education to the U.S. Forest Service and the Department of Veterans Affairs.
More: Firings across federal government commence following Trump and Musk’s orders for sweeping reductions.
The Department of Veterans Affairs announced on Thursday that it had dismissed over 1,000 of its approximately 43,000 probationary employees, yielding estimated savings of about $98 million.
“This was a difficult decision, but ultimately it’s the right choice to better assist the Veterans, families, caregivers, and survivors that our department aims to serve,” said Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins in a statement.
The complete count of layoffs across the federal workforce was not available on Friday. The Office of Personnel Management declined to provide a total or estimate when approached by USA TODAY. As of March 2024, about 220,000 federal workers out of a total workforce of 2.3 million had less than one year of experience, according to the latest data available from OPM.
3,400 U.S. Forest Service employees terminated
The U.S. Forest Service, part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture responsible for managing national forests and public lands, let go approximately 3,400 probationary workers, according to a knowledgeable source.
This accounts for nearly 10% of the Forest Service’s total workforce of 35,000. The layoffs do not include firefighters, law enforcement personnel, bridge inspectors, or meteorologists, the source mentioned to USA TODAY.
It is anticipated that Schedule A employees, including the disabled and veterans on two-year probationary terms, will be the next targets, according to the source.
The firings escalated following the expiration of Trump’s buyout offer on Wednesday night. This offer, available to most federal workers, provided eight months of pay and benefits through September in exchange for their immediate resignations. Roughly 75,000 federal employees accepted the buyout offers, a figure representing about 3.3% of the workforce, which fell short of the White House’s goal of 5% to 10% participation.
More: 75,000 federal workers accepted President Trump’s buyouts as the offer ended.
An spokesperson from the Office of Personnel Management validated the layoffs in a statement, clarifying that an employee’s probationary period is “merely a continuation of the job application process, not an entitlement to permanent employment.”
“Agencies are independently taking action in light of the recent hiring freeze and in support of the President’s broader objectives to reorganize and streamline the federal government for optimal service to the American public,” the OPM spokesperson commented.
More: Federal employees’ buyouts initiated by President Trump can proceed, judge rules.
Education Department among the agencies targeted
Over 60 probationary employees at the Department of Education received termination notifications across various work groups, which included offices such as general counsel, special education and rehabilitation services, and federal student aid.
Similar dismissal notices were received by hundreds of probationary employees at the Small Business Administration. Politico reported that 720 SBA employees were let go, amounting to around 20% of the agency’s workforce. Employees from the Energy Department were also reported to be laid off, according to union representatives.
Everett Kelley, president of the American Federation of Government Employees, which represents nearly 800,000 federal employees, criticized the Trump administration for “discarding the essential talent that agencies rely on to operate effectively in the future.” He promised that his union would contest the terminations.
“This administration has exploited the probationary period to execute a politically motivated mass firing operation, targeting employees not for performance reasons but due to their hiring prior to Trump’s administration,” Kelley stated. “These dismissals aren’t about poor performance ‒ there is no evidence showing these individuals were anything but committed public servants. They are driven by a quest for power.”
Musk aims to ‘eliminate entire agencies’
Future workforce reductions are predicted to extend beyond only the probationary employees.
Trump, with Musk present in the Oval Office, signed an executive order on Tuesday aimed at considerably downsizing the government by directing leaders of federal departments and agencies to develop strategies for “large-scale workforce reductions.” Musk is at the forefront of Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency, which is rapidly transitioning between agencies, significantly reducing their sizes.
“We must completely eliminate entire agencies rather than leave portions of them intact,” Musk stated in video remarks to the World Governments Summit in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, on Thursday. “If we do not eradicate the roots of the weed, it is easy for the weed to resurge.” Musk and his DOGE team have already moved to effectively shut down the U.S. Agency for International Development and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, with Trump suggesting that the Education Department is next on the list for elimination.
“I want it closed immediately,” Trump told reporters on Wednesday. “The Department of Education is nothing but a large con job.”
Contact Joey Garrison at X @joeygarrison.
