Trump administration directs agency heads to fire most probationary staff
"Terminations should happen within two days, according to four people familiar with internal conversations.
The Trump administration on Thursday moved swiftly to fire thousands of workers and directed agency heads to terminate most trial and probationary staff — a move that could affect as many as 200,000 employees, according to four people familiar with internal conversations who, like others interviewed for this report, spoke on the condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to speak publicly.
It was not immediately clear how many of those hired by the federal government within the last two years would be affected. One person familiar with the matter said some employees, such as those working on public safety and law enforcement issues, would be spared, and agency heads could exempt others.
Everett Kelley, president of the American Federation of Government Employees, the largest union representing federal workers, said in statement his union would “fight these firings every step of the way,” including by pursuing “every legal challenge available.”
“Employees were given no notice, no due process, and no opportunity to defend themselves in a blatant violation of the principles of fairness and merit that are supposed to govern federal employment,” Kelley said.
Agencies appeared to move quickly on Thursday to carry out the directive, according to interviews with dozens of federal employees and records obtained by The Washington Post. Thousands of workers were laid off in messages delivered through prerecorded videos and on group calls. Some were ordered to leave the building within 30 minutes. Others were told they would be formally fired by emails, which never arrived.
The latest data shows there were more than 220,000 federal employees within their one-year probationary period as of last March, according to Fedscope. These workers typically have little protection from being fired without cause.
“It’s stripping out, likely, a whole new generation of talent for our government, who are targeted not because of evidence of poor performance but because they are easier to get rid of,” said Max Stier, president and CEO of Partnership for Public Service, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization focused on improving government.
The directive accelerates the effort to shrink the federal government, a priority of Musk’s U.S. DOGE Service celebrated by President Donald Trump, who has derided the bureaucracy as bloated and corrupt. The sweeping firings started Wednesday, just before the Trump administration decided to close its deferred resignation program. The program — which encouraged federal workers to resign with the promise of pay through September — had been halted since last Thursday, while a Massachusetts judge weighed a legal challenge. More than 75,000 people accepted the offer, according to McLaurine Pinover, spokesperson for the Office of Personnel Management.
The terminations have hit at least five agencies responsible for work ranging from supporting small businesses to conducting education research. Federal News Network first reported that the Office of Personnel Management advised federal agencies to fire probationary employees with less than a year on the job.
A spokesperson for the government’s human resources agency said the moves were “in support of the President’s broader efforts to restructure and streamline the federal government to better serve the American people at the highest possible standard.”
“The probationary period is a continuation of the job application process, not an entitlement for permanent employment,” said the spokesperson for the U.S. Office of Personnel Management.
Cutting government personnel by one-fourth would only reduce federal spending by about 1 percent.
Probationary employees, dozens who said they had never received negative feedback about their work, received emails citing their performance to assert they “have not demonstrated that your further employment at the Agency would be in the public interest,” according to the correspondences reviewed by The Post.
The personnel office fired all of its probationary employees and dismissed the entire communications team, according to three personnel office employees, speaking on the condition of anonymity to avoid professional retribution.
In a recorded video to probationary staff, agency director Charles Ezell said, “I understand that this may be unexpected and that this is difficult news,” according to the video obtained by The Post.
A probationary employee watching on what became her last 30 minutes of employment muttered, “who is this guy?”
One agency, the Small Business Administration, listed a paralegal phone number for laid off employees to appeal their terminations.
The number was an automated line for an apartment building.
“Thank you for calling Westbrook Place, a team that is dedicated to taking care of the way you live while offering you an extraordinary living experience,” a voice said after a reporter called the listed number. “We look forward to sharing why Westbrook Place is the perfect place to call home.”
At the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau, employees were braced for mass cuts.
Its union on Thursday morning posted in an internal forum about looming, widespread reductions-in-force (RIF).
“Managers are warning their employees of a large illegal RIF attempt coming as soon as tomorrow,” said the message, which was reviewed by The Post. “We are trying to confirm these rumors but we don’t you to wait to act before being prepared.”
At the FBI, more than 1,000 special agents and 2,600 analysts are in probationary status, about 10 percent of the FBI workforce, according to the FBI Agents Association. The association sent a letter to congressional leaders on Thursday characterizing the replacement of those employees as a “tremendous waste of already-invested resources.”
At the Education Department, emails went out to dozens of probationary employees on Wednesday, notifying them they were fired.
One staffer who lost her job worked in the department’s office of special education, helping students with disabilities. In an interview, she said she had moved across the country with her partner to take the position last summer, spending all her savings in the process.
She was working from home because of the snow when she got the email. She was removed from her position in the civil service that same day.
Before she could process what had happened, her supervisor called, she said. He was surprised and devastated, he told her. He’d received the email at the same time she did.
“Do I need to finish work?” she recalled asking."
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