BREAKING: Trump Administration Directive Could Potentially FIRE Around 200,000 Federal Employees Within Two Days

The Trump administration has directed agency leaders to begin firing federal employees still in their probationary period.

Office of Personnel Management (OPM) officials directed agency heads to fire most “trial period and probationary staff within two days,” The Washington Post reports.

The directive could result in the firing of approximately 200,000 federal employees in at least six agencies hired within the last two years.

#BREAKING: President Trump has just begun MASS LAYOFFS across the federal government, per CBS

YOU’RE FIRED!

Thousands of employees from the Department of Education, EPA, SBA, CFPB, and more are headed to the unemployment line

They had the opportunity to take an 8 month… pic.twitter.com/l6TL2658PP

— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) February 13, 2025

From The Washington Post:

But 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 email, 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.

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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 layoffs started Wednesday and hit at least five agencies responsible for work ranging from supporting small businesses to developing school curriculums. 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.

“This is not a mission to reach a quota, this is a mission to streamline the government,” a White House official said, according to POLITICO.

“The probationary period is a continuation of the job application process, not an entitlement for permanent employment. Agencies are taking independent action in light of the recent hiring freeze and 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,” an OPM spokesperson said in a statement, The Hill noted.

TRUMP ORDERS MASS FIRING OF NEW FEDERAL HIRES WITHIN 48 HOURS

Administration directs immediate termination of most probationary employees, impacting up to 220,000 workers hired in past two years.

Agencies began layoffs Thursday through pre-recorded videos and group calls.… pic.twitter.com/TIe8f7zajq

— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) February 13, 2025

POLITICO reports:

The Department of Energy plans to lay off most or all of its estimated 2,000 probationary employees Thursday. Over the past 48 hours, at least five other agencies — the Education Department, the Office of Personnel Management, Small Business Administration, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the General Services Administration initiated layoffs.

Also on Thursday, Elon Musk and his team at the Department of Government Efficiency started to zero in on the Department of Housing and Urban Development, reviewing the agency’s budget and workforce structure for potential cuts, according to another person familiar with Musk’s involvement granted anonymity to speak freely.

The government-wide layoffs have primarily targeted employees who were recently hired or promoted and in a one- to two-year probationary status that allows employers to fire without a cause, depending on the agency.

The layoffs are expected to intensify in the coming days and weeks, according to officials in the White House and across agencies, as additional agencies finalize workforce reduction plans.

#BREAKING: OPM directs agencies to fire government workers still on probation https://t.co/18sguSDwBh

— The Hill (@thehill) February 13, 2025

The Hill noted:

The Trump administration has also used two other methods to cull the workforce: an executive order from President Trump directing agencies to undertake a reduction in force and the “Fork in the Road” program offering federal workers a buyout.

Agencies across government have already begun carrying out their layoffs of probationary employees.

That was even true at OPM, where the agency fired its probationary staff, cutting them off from systems at 3 p.m. EST, according to Gov Exec.

This is a Guest Post from our friends over at 100 Percent Fed Up.

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