Some fired federal employees reportedly were only given 30 minutes to pack their belongings and empty the federal government. Donald Trump ordered him to fire probation staff primarily. The Washington Post reported this.
More major layoffs occurred Friday as about 2,300 employees were fired from the U.S. Department of the Interior.
The Department of the Interior oversees the US natural resources and manages 500 million acres of public land, including national parks. The extensive layoffs were confirmed by three sources with knowledge of the subject, who spoke to Reuters anonymously.
Citing two anonymous sources, he also reported that probation employees at research institutes in two US agricultural sectors were fired and cited two anonymous sources. The exact number of termed workers has not been confirmed, but the layoffs reportedly occurred overnight.
Several federal unions have filed lawsuits against the Trump administration over mass layoffs at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), according to ABC News. The plaintiffs argued that Russ Vought, acting director of the CFPB, plans to cut 95% of the agency’s workforce and essentially interfere with the agency.
Elon Musk’s massive layoff strategy, known as “government efficiency,” aims to reduce costs by reducing the federal government. Trump and Musk have criticized the federal government for being oversized, and Trump has “bloated” the federal government and is filled with “necessary people.” Musk said Thursday that the US should “remove the entire agency” and that they should be compared to “weeds” that must take root.
However, the massive layoffs created confusion for the affected federal employees. Thousands of recent workers have been fired via group calls or pre-recorded messages, the post reported. Others were told by email that they would be fired, but they never received such a message.
CNN reported that around 100 personnel at the Department of Human Resources (OPM) have been fired at Microsoft Teams Group Call, and that it will take 30 minutes to leave the building.
OPM workers were said to have been fired for failing to accept the Trump administration’s postponed resignation plan, the Federation of US Government Employees (AFGE) union told CNN. Employees who agreed to stop paying until September 30th due to the acquisition offer are questioning whether the payment offer is valid.
Everett Kelley, head of AFGE, representing 800,000 federal workers, has denounced the layoffs and committed to using “all available legal challenges” in comments on the post.
“Employees don’t have the opportunity to protect themselves with the blatant violation of fairness and merit that is supposed to govern federal employment.
So far, at least six agencies have implemented extensive layoffs. The Veterans Affairs Bureau, which oversees military services and benefits, has lifted 1,000 probation, Reuters reported. The termination notice to VA employees stated, CNN said: “The agency has found that based on your performance, it has not demonstrated that further employment at the agency is in the public interest.”
Notices of fire have also been sent to employees of the Ministry of Education, Small Business Administration (SBA), and General Services Agency (GSA).
The National Science Foundation and the Housing and Urban Development Agency expect additional layoffs, the post reported, citing people with knowledge of the reductions, who spoke anonymously. The U.S. Forest Service, which manages 193m acres (78m hectares) of public land in the United States, is also expected to fire more than 3,000 workers.
The job concluded Wednesday with employees who may still be considering a decision as a judge ruled that the Trump administration’s offer to buyback could progress.
About 3.75% of workers (approximately 75,000) accepted the deal, Semafor reported. The figure is estimated to accept offers to buy under 5-10% of workers intended to remove.
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