(The Center Square) – President Donald Trump dismissed federal workers who have been on the job for less than a year as the president continues to reshape the federal workforce during his second term.
The move could affect up to 200,000 workers, but some portion were exempt from the move, including about more than 40,000 probationary employees at the Department of Veterans Affairs. It wasn’t immediately clear how many probationary workers were fired on Thursday. More than 200,000 employees – almost 10% of the civilian workforce – have been on the job for a year or less, according to Office of Personnel Management data.
The Department of Veterans Affairs announced it dismissed more than 1,000 of its 43,000 probationary employees in a move expected to save $98 million a year. The agency said those let go included non-union 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.
“VA will redirect all of those resources back toward health care, benefits and services for VA beneficiaries,” the agency noted.
VA has more than 43,000 probationary employees across the department, the vast majority were exempt from termination “because they serve in mission-critical positions – primarily those supporting benefits and services for VA beneficiaries – or are covered under a collective bargaining agreement,” according to the agency. VA employees who signed up for the Office of Personnel Management’s deferred resignation program were also exempt from termination.
“The dismissals announced today are part of a government-wide Trump Administration effort to make agencies more efficient, effective and responsive to the American People,” the agency said. “To that end, VA is refocusing on its core mission: providing the best possible care and benefits to Veterans, their families, caregivers and survivors.”
Reports from across the federal government indicated mass layoffs. The U.S. Forest Service will fire about 3,400 employees, Politico reported. ABC News reported the dismissal of 1,300 probationary employees at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The Wall Street Journal reported 2,000 Energy Department staffers were fired.
The American Federation of Government Employees, a federal employee union that represents 800,000 workers, said the mass layoffs could affect government operations for years to come.
“Despite OPM’s guidance earlier this week advising agencies not to engage in sweeping terminations, the administration has plowed forward,” AFGE National President Everett Kelley said. “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 and other unions have vowed to fight back against the cuts. The National Federation of Federal Employees said it joined other unions in a lawsuit alleging the executive actions violate federal law.
“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,” NFFE National President Randy Erwin said. “The courts must intervene and hold this Administration accountable for violating federal laws before it is too late.”
The dismissal of probationary employees comes after the Trump administration offered deferred resignations to millions of federal employees. Trump’s Office of Personnel Management sent an email Jan. 28 to nearly all federal employees in the executive branch offering them a deferred resignation package – similar to a buyout – called the Fork in the Road directive. It gave federal workers a choice: continue working or leave with eight months of pay.
Trump accepted deferred resignations from about 75,000 federal employees, according to the White House. The number of federal employees who accepted the offer amounts to less than 5% of the federal workforce. The administration set a higher goal, expecting 5% to 10% of the federal workforce to take the deal. The administration estimated it could lead to $100 billion in yearly savings, but did not provide information about how it reached that estimate.
OPM stopped accepting deferred resignations at 7 p.m. Wednesday.
The U.S. government employs about 2.4 million federal workers, excluding the military (about 1.3 million active-duty military personnel) and U.S. Postal Service (about 600,000 employees), according to 2024 Pew Research report. That report noted that the federal government employed 1.87% of the entire civilian workforce. That percentage includes postal employees, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data.
The Trump administration said that even government employees who stay on could lose their jobs as the president reshapes the federal government and its workforce.
A document that went out with the email noted “the federal workforce is expected to undergo significant near-term changes.” The Fork email also noted that “the majority of federal agencies are likely to be downsized through restructurings, realignments, and reductions in force. These actions are likely to include the use of furloughs and the reclassification to at-will status for a substantial number of federal employees.”