Thousands of US government employees on probation to be laid off

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration on Thursday intensified its sweeping effort to reduce the number of employees in the federal government, the nation's largest employer, by ordering agencies to lay off nearly all probationary employees who had not yet earned civil service protections, potentially affecting hundreds of thousands of workers.

In addition, employees at several agencies were warned that there would be major job cuts.

The decision for probationary employees, who generally have less than a year on the job, came from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), which serves as the federal government's human resources department. The announcement was confirmed by a person familiar with the matter, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.

This is expected to be the first step in sweeping cuts across the federal government. President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Tuesday directing agency leaders to plan for "widespread workforce reductions."

Elon Musk, who President Trump has given broad latitude to cut government spending with the Department of Government Efficiency he heads, called on the country on Thursday to "wipe out entire agencies" from the federal government.

"I think we should wipe out entire agencies, rather than letting them continue," Mr. Musk said while speaking via video link at the World Government Summit in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. "If we don't pull out the weeds, then it's easy for the weeds to grow back."

Paul Light, an expert on the federal government and professor of public service at New York University, said it seemed as if the administration was "inventing new methods to destroy the capacity of government."

By laying off employees, the government will be able to accomplish fewer things.

"It's a massive undoing of what federal agencies do," he said.

Thursday's order was an expansion of previous guidance from OPM, which told agencies earlier this week that probationary employees should be terminated if they fail to meet high standards. It's not clear how many employees are on probation. According to government data maintained by OPM, there were 220,000 employees with less than a year on the job as of March 2024.

The layoffs of probationary employees began earlier this week and have included employees at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Department of Education.

At least 39 employees were laid off by the Department of Education on Wednesday, according to a union that represents agency employees, including civil rights workers, special education specialists and student aid officers.

The federal civil service workforce, excluding military personnel and postal workers, is about 2.4 million. While about 20% of employees are in Washington and the neighboring states of Maryland and Virginia, more than 80% live outside the Capitol region.

President Trump's initial attempt to reduce the workforce was the severance program, which offered to pay people through Sept. 30 if they agreed to leave. The White House said 75,000 people signed up, and a federal judge lifted a legal hurdle to the program on Wednesday.

However, the number of employees who accepted the offer was less than the administration's target, and President Trump has made it clear that he would take further steps to continue the cuts.

Employees at the National Science Foundation and the Department of Housing and Urban Development were told this week that major reductions in the workforce were expected, in some cases a halving of the workforce, according to a person familiar with the situation, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss it.

The National Science Foundation was told to expect a 25% to 50% reduction in its workforce within two months, while the Department of Housing and Urban Development was told to plan for a 50% reduction, the person said.

Employees at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration were also preparing Thursday for reductions in the workforce.

The order that President Trump signed on Tuesday specified that government functions that are not required by law will be prioritized for layoffs and hiring will be limited. With exceptions for functions such as public safety, only one employee will be added for every four who leave. Moreover, new hires would generally need the approval of a DOGE department representative, thus expanding the influence of Mr. Musk’s team./VOA