Trump Fires Officials, Mass Firings Catch-All

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Musk team kicks off federal layoffs as White House eyes big cuts​

The Trump administration’s plan for shrinking the civilian workforce is coming into increasingly clear view.

“Billionaire Elon Musk’s team has initiated sweeping layoffs of federal employees, as the Trump administration races to shrink the government’s civilian workforce.

An official with the Office of Personnel Management, which is now run by Musk allies, emailed staff Wednesday morning stating that widespread layoffs — known as “reductions in force” — have begun and are already overwhelming the small agency that functions as a human resources department for the government, according to a copy of the message obtained by The Washington Post. OPM has also begun to assert more control over all federal hiring, according to four employees of the agency and additional internal communications also obtained by The Post.

… Career staff and U.S. DOGE Service aides have clashed over efforts to freeze new hires. A backlog of unfilled positions is building even in critical agencies — such as the Department of Veterans Affairs, where badly needed doctors and nurses have been blocked from final approval to start work even though they are supposed to be exempt from a hiring freeze Trump ordered. …”
 
nycfan said:

Musk team kicks off federal layoffs as White House eyes big cuts​

The Trump administration’s plan for shrinking the civilian workforce is coming into increasingly clear view.

“Billionaire Elon Musk’s team has initiated sweeping layoffs of federal employees, as the Trump administration races to shrink the government’s civilian workforce.

An official with the Office of Personnel Management, which is now run by Musk allies, emailed staff Wednesday morning stating that widespread layoffs — known as “reductions in force” — have begun and are already overwhelming the small agency that functions as a human resources department for the government, according to a copy of the message obtained by The Washington Post. OPM has also begun to assert more control over all federal hiring, according to four employees of the agency and additional internal communications also obtained by The Post.

… Career staff and U.S. DOGE Service aides have clashed over efforts to freeze new hires. A backlog of unfilled positions is building even in critical agencies — such as the Department of Veterans Affairs, where badly needed doctors and nurses have been blocked from final approval to start work even though they are supposed to be exempt from a hiring freeze Trump ordered. …”
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Continued — https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2025/02/12/musk-trump-federal-layoffs/

“… Employees at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, for instance, received an email Tuesday saying they were being terminated while on their probationary period.

But the email, signed by HR representative Adam Martinez, included unfinished placeholders, addressing the memo to “[EmployeeFirstName] [EmployeeLastName]” and noting, “I am removing you from your position of [JobTitle],” according to a copy obtained by The Post.

Similarly, probationary employees at the Small Business Administration received emails Friday and Monday notifying them of their termination — before receiving a second email Monday revoking the dismissal, according to copies obtained by The Post. The Monday email said the notification was “sent in error — and as such, is not currently in effect.”

“If you are in receipt of the initial notice,” the email read, “your employment has not been terminated as was erroneously indicated in the initial notice.”

On Tuesday, the employees received a third email: Once again, they were let go. …”
 
Contd

“… At DOGE’s bidding, developers at OPM last week installed a road bump in an online hiring system that requires each new hire to be personally approved by a political appointee in the office of the agency’s acting director, Charles Ezell, who works from a regional office in Macon, Georgia, three OPM employees said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss private talks. Because of the change, the USAStaffing module for new hires across the government has been locked down for at least a week, multiple OPM employees said. …”
 
There is so little thought to these layoffs it’s breathtaking — they are firing all probationary period workers first because they have fewer protections, but doing so en masse with little to no view as to whether those workers fill a difficult to replace skill set or a specific area of need or are replacements for folks about to or that have retired.

“… Musk’s team has begun cutting staff by dismissing workers in their probationary periods, which, depending on the agency, can last one or two years. These workers typically have little protection from being fired without cause, and they amount to about 7 percent of the government’s civilian workforce of more than 2 million.

About 10 percent of the FBI’s workforce is in its probationary period, for instance, as is 6.5 percent of the Internal Revenue Service.

Some agencies have submitted to OPM lists of probationary employees that exceed 45 percent of their entire workforces, said one person familiar with the issue, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss matters not yet made public. …”

And it isn’t really about cost savings, it is about control:

“… Even cutting 1 in every 4 government workers would only reduce federal spending by about 1 percent. But if it makes it easier for the Trump administration to implement other changes without resistance, the layoffs could provide the basis for much bigger unilateral spending cuts, said Jessica Riedl, senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, a right-leaning think tank. …”
 
“… Probationary workers at the Technology Transformation Services arm of the General Services Administration were also laid off Wednesday afternoon, according to multiple people familiar with the matter, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss personnel.

The unit is a software-focused arm of the GSA headed by a Tesla alumnus, Thomas Shedd, who has described it as one of “two pillars of technical talent.”

Many workers had been reinterviewed about keeping their jobs in recent days. Workers were told they had a final chance to accept the deferred resignation offer, according to one person familiar with the discussion. Those who didn’t accept would lose their positions. …”
 
nycfan said:
Continued — https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2025/02/12/musk-trump-federal-layoffs/

“… Employees at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, for instance, received an email Tuesday saying they were being terminated while on their probationary period.

But the email, signed by HR representative Adam Martinez, included unfinished placeholders, addressing the memo to “[EmployeeFirstName] [EmployeeLastName]” and noting, “I am removing you from your position of [JobTitle],” according to a copy obtained by The Post.

Similarly, probationary employees at the Small Business Administration received emails Friday and Monday notifying them of their termination — before receiving a second email Monday revoking the dismissal, according to copies obtained by The Post. The Monday email said the notification was “sent in error — and as such, is not currently in effect.”

“If you are in receipt of the initial notice,” the email read, “your employment has not been terminated as was erroneously indicated in the initial notice.”

On Tuesday, the employees received a third email: Once again, they were let go. …”
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Trump Layoffs Push Federal Workers Into Tough Job Hunt​

Companies have pulled back on white-collar hiring, limiting options for government workers​



“… Federal workers are more likely than the American public to have college and graduate degrees, and most have white-collar roles. But hiring for such professional positions, which can range from project management to information technology to accounting, has slumped in recent years, hitting college graduates especially hard.

A few years ago, as companies sought to fill pandemic-induced labor shortages, displaced federal workers would have readily nabbed jobs, often with pay raises, said Julia Pollak, chief economist at jobs website ZipRecruiter.

In recent months, companies have trimmed ranks and reduced white-collar hiring, hitting fields such as professional and business services. Government data show 4.9% of such workers are now unemployed, up from 4.3% a year earlier. …”
 
1moretimeagain said:
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VA Statement

“… Those dismissed today include non-bargaining unit probationary employees who have served less than a year in a competitive service appointment or who have served less than two years in an excepted service appointment.

The personnel moves will save the department more than $98 million per year, and VA will redirect all of those resources back toward health care, benefits and services for VA beneficiaries.

There are currently more than 43,000 probationary employees across the department, the vast majority of whom are exempt from today’s personnel actions because they serve in mission-critical positions – primarily those supporting benefits and services for VA beneficiaries – or are covered under a collective bargaining agreement. VA employees who elected to participate in the Office of Personnel Management’s deferred resignation program are also exempt from today’s personnel actions. …”
 

“… 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 six other agencies — the Education Department, the Office of Personnel Management, the Department of Veterans Affairs, 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 Small Business Administration terminated about 720 employees — roughly 20 percent of its permanent workforce, according to a person familiar with the agency, who was granted anonymity to discuss sensitive personnel matters. The Department of Education on Wednesday fired at least 60 probationary employees and has begun distributing termination notices to workers in the offices for civil rights, federal student aid and communications, as well as its legal department.

Erie Meyer, former chief technologist at CFPB from 2021 until earlier this year, told POLITICO on Thursday that “they just fired every single technologist investigating Big Tech” at the agency. …”
 
nycfan said:

“… 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 six other agencies — the Education Department, the Office of Personnel Management, the Department of Veterans Affairs, 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 Small Business Administration terminated about 720 employees — roughly 20 percent of its permanent workforce, according to a person familiar with the agency, who was granted anonymity to discuss sensitive personnel matters. The Department of Education on Wednesday fired at least 60 probationary employees and has begun distributing termination notices to workers in the offices for civil rights, federal student aid and communications, as well as its legal department.

Erie Meyer, former chief technologist at CFPB from 2021 until earlier this year, told POLITICO on Thursday that “they just fired every single technologist investigating Big Tech” at the agency. …”
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SBA is already a slow-moving entity but one that does valuable work helping get small businesses through the first step of moving out of someone’s garage and moving toward sustainable growth.

It was a sleepy backwater agency that had PPP thrust upon it/shoehorned into its existing mission in 2020 and honestly performed above and beyond under the extraordinary circumstances of suddenly having to administer way more than its usual annual budget on a few weeks notice to disburse what ended up being over $800B to businesses all over the country in short order. It was nuts and to be fair banks and FinTechs had to be forced to handle the application and direct processing (SBA never could have handled that alone) but SBA had to process it all.

That kind of layoff number will slow things further.
 
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