WASHINGTON (AP) — On Thursday, the Trump administration ramped up its extensive initiatives to reduce the size of the federal workforce, the largest employer in the country, by directing agencies to dismiss nearly all probationary employees lacking civil service protection — a move that could impact hundreds of thousands of workers.
Additionally, employees at various agencies received warnings signifying that significant cuts in the workplace were imminent.
The order concerning probationary workers, who typically have less than a year of employment, originated from the Office of Personnel Management, which acts as the human resources department for the federal government. This information was corroborated by an anonymous source who was not authorized to speak publicly on the matter.
Even employees in the personnel office weren’t exempt: Many probationary staff members at OPM were notified during a Thursday afternoon conference call that they were being laid off and were instructed to exit the premises within thirty minutes, according to another anonymous source.
This is anticipated as a preliminary step toward widespread layoffs. President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Tuesday instructing agency heads to prepare for “large-scale reductions in force.”
Elon Musk, given broad discretion by President Trump to cut government expenses through his Department of Government Efficiency, advocated on Thursday for the dissolution of entire agencies.
“I believe we need to eliminate entire agencies rather than leave many of them intact,” Musk stated during a video call to the World Governments Summit in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. “If we don’t eradicate the root cause, the problem will easily reoccur.”
Everett Kelley, president of the American Federation of Government Employees which represents federal workers, claimed the administration “exploited” the probationary status of employees “to execute a politically motivated mass firing spree, targeting employees not based on their performance, but because they were employed prior to Trump taking office.”
Thursday’s directive expanded upon earlier instructions from OPM, which had indicated this week that probationary employees should be terminated if they were not meeting elevated standards. The number of workers currently in a probationary status remains unclear. According to data managed by OPM, as of March 2024, there were 220,000 employees with less than a year of service — the most recent available statistics.
The layoffs of probationary employees commenced earlier this week, affecting workers from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Department of Education.
At least 39 individuals were let go from the Education Department on Wednesday, as reported by a union representing agency employees, including civil rights advocates, special education experts, and student aid officials.
Additionally, layoffs impacted researchers at the Department of Veterans Affairs, who were involved in cancer treatment, opioid addiction, prosthetics, and burn pit exposure research, according to U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, a Democrat.
Murray expressed in a statement that she heard from VA researchers in her state who were ordered to cease their work immediately, “not due to lack of necessity for their research, but because Trump and Elon decided on a whim to terminate these researchers.”
The group Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, which advocates for government workers, noted that probationary layoffs at the Agriculture Department’s Food Safety and Inspection Service could severely impact its ability to recruit inspectors, who are essential to oversee most slaughterhouses at all times.
The civilian federal workforce , excluding military personnel and postal workers, comprises around 2.4 million individuals. While approximately 20% of these employees are based in Washington D.C., and surrounding states of Maryland and Virginia, more than 80% reside outside the capital area.
It is unlikely that these layoffs will produce substantial savings against the deficit. The Congressional Budget Office has established that the government spends approximately $271 billion a year compensating civilian federal employees, with around 60% of that sum allocated to the Defense, Homeland Security, and Veterans Affairs departments.
Theoretically, the government could terminate all these workers and still confront a deficit exceeding $1 trillion that is likely to increase as tax revenues struggle to meet the rising expenses of Social Security and Medicare.
Elaine Kamarck, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, remarked that firing probationary employees is flawed since it disproportionately targets younger workers.
“Baby Boomers are retiring en masse, so the individuals you actually want to retain are likely among those currently in probation,” Kamarck said, reflecting on her experience in former President Bill Clinton’s Democratic administration when around 426,000 federal jobs were eliminated in a deliberate government reform effort. “They are younger and presumably possess better skills, which is a quality you want to maintain.”
Trump’s initial strategy to downsize the workforce was through a deferred resignation program, often referred to as a buyout, which offered to compensate individuals until September 30 if they chose to resign. The White House indicated that 75,000 individuals participated, and a federal judge removed a legal hurdle for the program last Wednesday.
However, the number of employees opting for the program fell short of the administration’s target, and Trump has indicated he would pursue additional measures.
Employees at the National Science Foundation and the Housing and Urban Development Department learned this week that substantial reductions, in some instances reducing the workforce by half, were in the pipeline, as conveyed by another source who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
The executive order signed by Trump on Tuesday stipulated that non-mandatory government functions would be prioritized for cuts, and hiring would face restrictions. With exceptions for essential roles like public safety, only one individual can be added for every four that depart. Furthermore, new hires will typically require endorsement from a representative of the DOGE, thereby broadening Musk’s team’s influence.
Trump has commended Musk’s initiatives aimed at reducing federal expenditures.
The Republican president has also been vocally critical of federal employees, particularly those wishing to continue remote work, although his administration is actively pursuing reductions in federal office space and ordering the annulment of leases across the government.
“Nobody is going to work from home,” Trump asserted on Monday. “They will be out playing tennis, golfing, and doing numerous activities. They aren’t working.”
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Price reported from New York. Associated Press writers Will Weissert, Lisa Mascaro, Josh Boak, and Collin Binkley in Washington; Carla Johnson in Seattle; Brian Witte in Annapolis, Maryland; and JoNel Aleccia in Los Angeles contributed to this article.
