The Trump administration initiated a large-scale reduction of the federal workforce on Thursday, ordering agencies to dismiss probationary employees who have yet to attain civil service protections. The move, affecting potentially hundreds of thousands of workers, marks the first phase of a broader effort to downsize government employment.
The Office of Personnel Management (OPM), which oversees federal workforce policies, directed agencies to terminate nearly all probationary workers-typically employees with less than a year on the job. The layoffs, confirmed by individuals familiar with the decision, follow an executive order signed by President Donald Trump earlier this week instructing agency heads to implement "large-scale reductions in force."
The administration's plan extends beyond probationary employees. Several agencies, including the Department of Education, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, have already implemented layoffs. OPM itself was not spared-dozens of its probationary employees were informed of their dismissals in a brief video call Thursday afternoon and ordered to leave the premises within 30 minutes.
Elon Musk, whom Trump appointed to lead the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), indicated that the administration's ultimate goal is to eliminate entire agencies. Speaking at the World Governments Summit in Dubai, Musk stated, "If we don't remove the roots of the weed, then it's easy for the weed to grow back."
The layoffs triggered immediate backlash from labor unions and Democratic lawmakers, who criticized the administration for what they described as politically motivated terminations. Everett Kelley, president of the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), condemned the dismissals, arguing that they were carried out not due to performance issues but as part of a mass firing spree targeting workers hired before Trump took office.
"Agencies have spent years recruiting and developing the next generation of public servants. By firing them en masse, this administration is throwing away the very talent that agencies need to function effectively in the years ahead," Kelley said.
The scale of the layoffs remains unclear, but government data from March 2024 indicated that approximately 220,000 federal employees had been on the job for less than a year. The decision to focus on probationary workers, who lack the right to appeal their terminations, allows the administration to bypass traditional civil service protections.
Agencies have begun executing the cuts in waves. On Wednesday, 39 employees were dismissed from the Department of Education, including special education specialists and civil rights workers. The Department of Veterans Affairs has also begun cutting staff, including researchers focused on cancer treatment, opioid addiction, and burn pit exposure, according to Sen. Patty Murray (D., Wash.).
VA researchers in my state were told to stop their work immediately, "not because their work isn't desperately needed, but because Trump and Elon have decided to fire these researchers on a whim," Murray said in a statement.
Federal safety agencies are also affected. Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, a watchdog group, warned that layoffs at the Agriculture Department's Food Safety and Inspection Service could cripple the agency, which already struggles to recruit enough inspectors to staff slaughterhouses.
The Trump administration has defended the move as necessary to streamline government operations. While previous guidance from OPM suggested that only underperforming probationary employees should be dismissed, Thursday's order broadened the mandate.
A senior OPM official justified the decision, stating, "The probationary period is a continuation of the job application process, not an entitlement for permanent employment."
Trump has signaled that these initial layoffs are only the beginning. His administration has been working to shrink the federal workforce since January, first offering voluntary buyouts and then moving toward forced reductions. Approximately 75,000 employees opted to take buyouts, but the administration had set a higher target.
At the Department of Energy, agency officials scrambled to compile lists of mission-critical employees who could potentially be exempt from the cuts. However, layoffs proceeded, leaving staffers uncertain about the future. "Our leadership was visibly shaken today," one DOE employee told CNN.
The administration's directive extends beyond hiring freezes and layoffs. Trump's executive order on Tuesday also mandated that government functions not explicitly required by law would be prioritized for cuts. The order further imposed a strict hiring restriction, allowing agencies to hire just one new employee for every four who leave, except for public safety roles.
Musk's DOGE team will oversee hiring decisions, further consolidating control over federal employment policies.
Despite concerns over government efficiency and workforce retention, the financial impact of the layoffs is expected to be minimal. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the federal government spends $271 billion annually on civilian employees, but even eliminating a significant portion of these jobs would not substantially reduce the national deficit, which continues to exceed $1 trillion due to spending on Social Security and Medicare.
Elaine Kamarck, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, criticized the administration's strategy, arguing that targeting probationary employees could be counterproductive.
"Baby Boomers are retiring right and left, so actually the people you want to keep are probably most of the people who are right now on probation," said Kamarck, who previously served in the Clinton administration during a federal workforce reduction in the 1990s.
Federal workers also face additional uncertainty as the administration moves to restructure entire agencies. Employees at the National Science Foundation and the Department of Housing and Urban Development were told this week that staffing levels could be halved. Meanwhile, the administration has begun terminating government leases, further signaling a shift toward a leaner federal workforce.
Trump has repeatedly criticized federal employees, particularly those who work remotely. "Nobody is gonna work from home," he said Monday. "They're gonna play tennis, they're gonna play golf, they're gonna do a lot of things. They're not working."
