CNN
–
The Trump administration on Thursday expanded efforts to end thousands of probation workers and directed agencies on a call to advance layoffs.
Authorities have turned their eyesight to probation workers who are usually employed for less than a year, or in some cases, less than two years, due to their lack of employment protection and lack of the right to appeal.
More than 200,000 employees have worked within the federal government for less than a year, according to the latest 2024 data from the U.S. Personnel Management, which conducted the Thursday afternoon call.
Thursday’s culling took place in the Energy and Veterans Affairs section, among other things, followed the conclusion of probationary workers’ scores at the Department of Education, Consumer Financial Protection and Small Business Administration earlier this week.
Until recently, federal employees of all government agencies were only placed on paid administrative leave.
Thursday’s directive shows a change in guidance as OPM told agents earlier this week doesn’t have to end all probation workers, but they need to focus on those who are not performing well. Ta.
“The probation period is not a permanent employment qualification, but a continuation of the job search process and not a permanent employment qualification,” an OPM spokesman told CNN in a statement Thursday. “The agency is taking independent action in light of the recent hiring freeze, and the president’s actions to restructure and streamline the federal government to better serve Americans by the highest possible standards. We support a broader effort.”
Since taking office in January, President Donald Trump and Elon Musk have overturned the federal workforce, fired the top staff and watchdogs, dismantled major humanitarian agencies, and resigned to more than 75,000 workers Through the offer, I voluntarily convinced him to quit his job.
The trial worker layoff was Trump’s first day when the OPM representative sent a note to all agencies and ordered them to compile a list of all probation workers and send it to the office. I was working on it from there. A January 20 memo noted that it would be easier to close these employees.
Email and video firing
According to sources who spoke to CNN, the employee received cancellation notices via email, form letters and video calls.
At OPM, dozens of shelter employees were fired in an afternoon Microsoft team call, according to the U.S. Government Employee Federation, which represents career employees in the office. After receiving an email to join the call, about 100 people joined the video and speaking ability, were invalidated, probation employees were fired and had to leave the building within 30 minutes. I was told.
According to AFGE, the reason they were cited for their firing is because they did not accept the postponed resignation package. After 3pm, those who were given up were no longer able to access the buildings and government emails. Union representatives were not allowed by phone, Afge said.
The VA said it has fired more than 1,000 employees and touted the department as saving more than $98 million a year. However, the majority of probation employees (over 43,000) were exempt from firing, the department said.
One termination notice to VA employees that we shared with CNN stated: “The agency has found that based on your performance, it has not demonstrated that further employment at the agency is in the public interest.” Termination notices in other departments include similar languages. I did.
The VA employee message was signed by Tracey Therit, the VA’s chief executive.
In a statement, VA Executive Director Doug Collins said, “To be completely clear, these moves will not have any negative impact on VA’s healthcare, benefits, or beneficiaries.” Ta.
Meanwhile, Department of Energy employees were on the edge as Proficiency Bureau staff began receiving notifications that they had been denied on Thursday.
“Our leadership was visibly shaken today,” an energy department employee told CNN. “It sounds like it hit them from the blue.”
Earlier in the day, the agency’s representative advisor met with the department head and asked the office to compile a list of “mission-critical” probation employees who could potentially exempt layoffs. . The DOE has around 2,000 probation employees, the person said, but the number of workers affected by the termination was not immediately clear.
Afge vowed to fight the fires, saying the administration “abused” his probation period in order to “enfranchise politically driven mass shootings.”
“These shootings are not about poor performance. There is no evidence that these employees are not committed civil servants. They are about power,” AFGE National President Everett Kelly said in a statement. “Agents have spent many years recruiting and developing the next generation of civil servants. By firing them in large numbers, this administration will need the agency to function effectively in the coming years. He’s abandoning some of his talents.”
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said probation workers were let go on Tuesday, but dozens of so-called term workers were fired on Thursday evening, people familiar with the matter told CNN . These workers are usually useful for a limited period of time, but are considered career employees with specific civil servant protection.
The team of engineers from the department hired to tackle artificial intelligence and other fields was heavily affected by the termination, a source told CNN. The CFPB did not respond to requests for comment.
One of the department’s tenure staff was notified on Thursday evening that it ended in a form letter to personal email, shortly after being locked out of work accounts. They were supposed to be employed in 2026, but they were informed that their last day was Thursday. According to the notification, you will receive a paid postage box to return ID badges, laptops, iPhones and other equipment owned by CFPB.
“It was a job I loved protecting consumers every day,” said an employee with a mortgage with a young child. “It will also have a rather serious financial impact on my family.”
The employee was fired on Tuesday in a workforce optimization executive order signed by Trump, pledging to “critical transformation of federal officials” with the aim of “eliminating waste.” The order also directed the agency’s directors to begin preparing to prepare for major cuts.
Elsewhere, around 3,400 Forest Service employees and 2,000 Energy Division staff were fired Thursday, National President of the Federal Federation, Randy Irwin, told The Wall Street Journal. CNN has contacted the NFFE for additional information.
CNN’s Megan Trimble, Kaanita Iyer and Ella Nilsen contributed to this report.
