Topline
The Trump administration reportedly asked FEMA officials to produce a list of employees that could be targeted for firings—the latest agency to come under scrutiny of the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency that is leading a mass-layoff effort to reduce government spending.
The Trump administration has laid off thousands amid cost-cutting efforts.
Key Facts
Federal Emergency Management Agency: The Trump administration has directed senior officials in the FEMA resilience office, which helps communities prepare for potential disasters and mitigate risk, to identify employees who work or worked on “climate, environmental justice, equity and DEIA” initiatives for potential firings, CNN reported, citing an email sent to the resilience office officials that said the directive could “impact the majority” of staff, as Trump has suggested previously he wants to eliminate FEMA entirely and DOGE is conducting a review of FEMA operations.
Internal Revenue Service: Layoffs at the IRS began Thursday, multiple outlets reported, with about 7,000 people—or 7% of the IRS’ workforce—expected to be impacted, a person familiar with the situation told The Washington Post; Forbes previously reported at least 3,500 IRS employees in the Small Business/Self-Employed division are expected to lose their jobs in the heart of tax season.
TSA: The 243 employees were fired “due to performance and conduct issues during their probationary period,” TSA spokesperson Robert Langston told Bloomberg, which noted it’s commonplace for TSA employees to be terminated during the time frame immediately after they’re hired when it’s easier to fire them.
Office of Community Planning and Development: The Trump administration is aiming to cut the office, an arm of the department of Housing and Urban Development, from 936 staffers to 150, or 84%, the New York Times reported, citing a document it obtained detailing the plans.
Department of Defense: Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, arrived at the Pentagon on Tuesday to get lists of the department’s probationary employees—the employee class that has been broadly targeted in layoffs—and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Thursday under-performing employees would be targeted first, indicating layoffs at the Defense Department may begin soon, though the plan has been temporarily paused as the Pentagon assesses the impact of the layoffs on military readiness, CNN reported, citing two anonymous defense officials.
Health agencies: Some 5,200 probationary employees across the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are being targeted for layoffs, according to multiple outlets, with Bloomberg reporting Sunday that employees at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and the Food and Drug Administration were also laid off Saturday evening. According to NBC News, around two dozen staffers from the CDC’s Laboratory Leadership Service—known as “disease detectors”—were among the people fired. The FDA’s Deputy Commissioner for Human Foods Jim Jones resigned earlier this week, citing the “indiscriminate” firings of 89 staffers, Bloomberg reported.
Department of Energy: As many as 2,000 probationary employees at the agency were fired Thursday, according to Politico, citing anonymous sources—though Bloomberg reports some department staff who work on nuclear security were asked back.
Department of Education: Some probationary employees at the agency—including those from the general counsel’s office, office of Special Education and Rehabilitation and Federal Student Aid office—were notified of their termination via a letter this week that cited their “performance,” CNN reported, citing an unnamed union source who claimed “dozens” of employees were let go.
Department of Veterans Affairs: The agency announced Thursday that more than 1,000 employees were dismissed “effective immediately,” including some probationary employees, claiming the personnel changes would save the department more than $98 million annually.
U.S. Forest Service: More than 3,400 employees were fired Thursday, including positions at each level of the agency, two people familiar with the firings told Politico.
Small Business Administration: Some probationary employees at the agency received emails notifying them of their terminations, before another email said the initial notices were a mistake, only to be notified in a third email on Tuesday confirming their firings, outlets reported.
Office of Personnel Management: Probationary employees at the office were let go Thursday, a union official with the American Federation of Government Employees told NPR, adding about 100 people were present in a video call notifying the staffers of their dismissal because they declined to take the Trump Administration’s resignation offer.
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau: The union that represents workers at the financial agency said about 73 of its members had been terminated, after the agency—which has drawn ire from Trump’s tech allies—was ordered to stop all work, though union leaders and the Trump administration reached a deal Friday that agency employees won’t be terminated while litigation challenging the cuts is still pending.
National Nuclear Safety Administration: An employee at the agency—which oversees nuclear weapons in the U.S.—told NPR the agency would fire about 300 of the agency’s 1,800 staff, though the Trump administration is now reportedly trying to hire some of those employees back.
General Services Administration: More than 100 people were affected by layoffs at the agency responsible for the federal government’s real estate portfolio, three people familiar with the matter told Reuters.
Federal Aviation Administration: Hundreds of probationary FAA employees received emails starting late on Feb. 14 from a non-governmental email informing them they’d been fired, according to Professional Aviation Safety Specialists union president David Spero—and one unnamed air traffic controller told the Associated Press people fired included personnel “hired for FAA radar, landing and navigational aid maintenance,” just weeks after a fatal mid-air crash highlighted the shortage in traffic controllers.
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What Other Officials Have Been Fired By Trump?
It’s not immediately clear how many staff have been affected by widespread layoffs across the Trump administration, which are separate from voluntary buyout deals offered to more than 2 million federal workers. Trump’s administration has reportedly made a number of other high-profile terminations: 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.
Surprising Fact
Trump’s wide-scale job cuts are drawing criticism even from some Republican senators. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, noted Friday the administration has fired more than 100 Alaskans and argued many of the terminations “will do more harm than good” and the Trump administration’s “approach is bringing confusion, anxiety, and now trauma to our civil servants.” Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., similarly criticized job cuts at the FBI, saying Saturday, “I am all for efficiency and ultimately downsizing the federal government, but firing large numbers of new FBI agents is not the way to achieve this.”
Who Are Probationary Employees?
They are mostly new employees who have been in the federal workforce for less than a year and are not afforded some job protections, including a right to appeal terminations. Probationary employees are the target of the Trump administration’s layoffs, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Big Number
More than 200,000. That’s how many probationary workers are in the federal workforce, according to Office of Personnel Management data.
How Many Employees Have Resigned Since Trump Took Office?
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.
Are The Terminations Legal?
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.
What Are The Rules For Mass Layoffs At The Federal Government?
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.
What Other Cuts Are Expected?
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.
What Other Agency-Wide Personnel Changes Has Trump Made?
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.
How Does Trump Want To Use Schedule F To Terminate Employees?
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.
Further Reading
Here Are All The Major Lawsuits Against Trump And Musk: 8 Inspectors General Challenge Their Firing In Court (Forbes)
Trump’s Federal Worker Buyout Pause Lifted: Here’s What To Know As 75,000 Workers Accept Offer (Forbes)
Trump Vs. CFPB: Russ Vought Orders Consumer Financial Protection Bureau To Stop Work (Forbes)
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