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By Khaleda Rahman
National Correspondent
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Union leaders representing federal workers have condemned the Trump administration's order for agencies to lay off almost all probationary employees.
Everett Kelley, the president of the American Federation of Government Employees, said the administration "abused" the probation status of workers "to conduct a politically driven mass firing spree, targeting employees not because of performance, but because they were hired before Trump took office."
Newsweek has contacted the White House for comment via email.
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Why It Matters
The Trump administration's order could affect hundreds of thousands of workers, the Associated Press reported.
The order may be the first step in sweeping layoffs as President Donald Trump's administration continues to work on shrinking the size of the federal workforce, the nation's largest employer. On Tuesday, Trump signed an executive order that told agency heads to prepare for "large-scale reductions in force" and to find ways to eliminate or combine positions.
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What To Know
The Office of Personnel Management (OPM), which serves as the human resources department for the federal government, gave the order to lay off probationary workers, who have not gained the protections that many other federal workers have, the AP reported.
The Department of Veterans affairs announced on Thursday that it had dismissed more than 1,000 employees, including probationary employees who had worked at the agency for less than two years.
Employees at other agencies, including the Department of Education and the Small Business Administration, also reportedly received termination notices.
The layoffs also extended to OPM: Dozens of probationary workers were told they were being dismissed on a Thursday afternoon group call, the AP reported, citing an unnamed source who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
The terminations came a day after a judge allowed the Trump administration to proceed with a deferred resignation program that encouraged employees to resign and be paid through September.
OPM's website said the program was now closed and that any resignations received after 7 p.m. ET on February 12 would not be accepted. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told NewsNation that about 77,000 federal workers had accepted the deferred resignation offer.
What People Are Saying
AFGE President Everett Kelley said in a statement issued on Friday: "These firings are not about poor performance—there is no evidence these employees were anything but dedicated public servants. They are about power. They are about gutting the federal government, silencing workers, and forcing agencies into submission to a radical agenda that prioritizes cronyism over competence."
He added: "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.
"AFGE will fight these firings every step of the way. We will stand with every impacted employee, pursue every legal challenge available, and hold this administration accountable for its reckless actions. Federal employees are not disposable, and we will not allow the government to treat them as such."
Randy Erwin, the president of the National Federation of Federal Employees, said in a statement issued on Thursday: "The Trump Administration's executive actions to gut the federal workforce are not only illegal, but will also have damaging consequences for federal employees and the public services they provide.
"The courts must intervene and hold this Administration accountable for violating federal laws before it is too late. Federal workers are your friends and neighbors who have dedicated their careers to serving our country. We cannot let the President disrupt their lives and dismantle critical services relied upon by the American people."
Elon Musk, the head of the Department of Government Efficiency, said on Thursday: "I think we do need to delete entire agencies as opposed to leave a lot of them behind. If we don't remove the roots of the weed, then it's easy for the weed to grow back."
What Happens Next
The National Federation of Federal Employees and several other federal labor unions filed a lawsuit on Wednesday to block the Trump administration's plans to shrink the federal workforce.
The lawsuit asks the court to rule that the deferred resignation program and the mass firing of nonessential, probationary and other employees are unlawful.
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