The Trump administration has begun mass layoffs at several federal agencies, part of an effort to cut budgets by 30% to 40% at most agencies as it seeks to dismantle others entirely—though the legality of Trump’s moves are unclear and face several lawsuits contesting the firings.
President Donald Trump delivers remarks after signing an executive order on reciprocal tariffs in ... [+]
The Office of Personnel Management notified staff Wednesday the administration had begun widespread layoffs, the Washington Post reported.
It’s unclear how many staff have been affected so far by the layoffs, which are separate from the buyout deals the Trump administration offered to more than 2 million federal workers.
The administration informed some probationary employees in the Department of Education—including those from the general counsel’s office, office of Special Education and Rehabilitation, and Federal Student Aid office—they had been terminated via a letter this week that cited their “performance,” CNN reported, citing an unnamed union source who said “dozens” of employees had been fired, but it’s unclear exactly how many.
Some probationary employees at the Small Business Administration received similar emails notifying them of their terminations, then another email that said the initial notices were a mistake, only to receive a third email on Tuesday confirming their firings, multiple outlets reported.
The union that represents workers at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau also said about 73 of its members at the agency had been terminated, after the agency—which has drawn ire from Trump’s tech allies—was ordered to stop all work.
Trump’s administration has reportedly made a number of other high-profile terminations outside of the reductions announced Wednesday: Trump has terminated at least 17 inspectors general, the chief financial officer at the Federal Emergency Management Agency plus three other FEMA workers, U.S. Coast Guard Commandant Linda Fagan, more than a dozen prosecutors who worked on cases against Trump, at least nine high-ranking FBI agents and the director of the Office of Government Ethics, among others.
Those are new employees, most who have been in the federal workforce for less than a year and are not afforded some job protections, including their right to appeal terminations.
The Trump administration separately offered all federal civilian workers pay with benefits through September if they choose to voluntarily resign, an offer 75,000 federal workers have reportedly accepted so far. The administration has suggested employees who don’t participate in the program could be subject to the mass terminations. The buyout deal was temporarily put on hold amid a lawsuit, but a federal judge allowed the program to resume this week.
It’s unclear. The administration is facing multiple lawsuits over some of the more high-profile firings. A judge temporarily reinstated the head of the Office of Special Counsel, Hampton Dellinger, who filed a lawsuit Monday contesting his firing. Eight inspectors general also argued in a lawsuit filed Wednesday their terminations violated federal rules that require the executive branch to give Congress 30 days notice before firing them, plus a justification for the terminations. The administration is also facing lawsuits from former National Labor Relations Board Chair Gwynne Wilcox, who was fired by Trump on Jan. 27, and former Merit Systems Protection Board member Cathy Harris, who was fired Feb. 10. Harris is a Democrat. Trump has also fired the three-member panel’s other Democratic member, Raymond Limon, and appointed its sole Republican member, Henry Kerner, as chair.
Federal regulations of mass layoffs, known as “reduction in force,” require the government to give 60 days advance notice of a layoff. The job must also be eliminated entirely—not an attempt to replace a worker, according to the Wall Street Journal. Employees who believe the administration broke protocol in terminating them can file complaints with the Merit Systems Protection Board. There are also protections in place for independent boards and commissions, such as the NLRB. Presidents can only fire members of the board for “malfeasance” or “neglect of duty,” according to the Wall Street Journal.
Trump is aiming for budget cuts between 30% and 40%, on average, across all government agencies, with staffing reductions serving as a major area for spending rollbacks, the Washington Post reported, citing two anonymous sources. Many of the spending cuts are led by billionaire Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency.
The Defense Department and Department of Homeland Security are not expected to face budget cuts or reductions in staff.
Trump has sought to dismantle multiple arms of the federal government, including the U.S. Agency for International Development, the CFPB and all Diversity, Equity and Inclusion initiatives. A judge recently blocked Trump’s attempt to put 2,200 USAID staff on paid leave. Shortly after taking office, Trump ordered all DEI employees be placed on paid leave. A staff shakeup is also expected at the Department of Justice, where Trump’s appointees are investigating prosecutors who worked on cases related to the Jan. 6 Capitol riots.
Trump signed an executive order to reinstate a policy from his first term that reclassified tens of thousands of federal civilian employees to at-will employees, making it easier for him to fire them by ridding them of their job protections. Several unions, including the American Federation of Government Employees, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees and the National Treasury Employees Union have filed lawsuits to block Schedule F from taking effect. Schedule F is unrelated to the mass layoffs of probationary employees, but is widely viewed as another tool Trump can use to exert outsized power over the makeup of the federal workforce.
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