Results of layoffs have begun on federal agencies

Cnn
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Results of layoffs have begun on federal agencies, with terminations of probationary employees who are underway at the Department of Education and Small Business Administration, federal staff and union sources told CNN on Wednesday.

That probationary staff firing marks the first from the Trump administration when President Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency aim to dramatically shrink the federal workforce. Until now, federal employees across all state agencies had only been put on paid administrative leave.

The move came the same day as a federal judge allows the administration’s deferred resignation to continue. About 77,000 employees have accepted the offer, which generally allows them to leave their jobs, but is paid through the end of September.

A form letter sent to the Department of Education staff, obtained by CNN, who informed them of their resignation, said: “The agency finds, based on your performance, that you have not demonstrated that your further employment on the agency would be in general interest. ”

At the Department of Education, the layoffs have influenced employees across the agency from the General Advocate’s office to the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitation Services that support programs for children with disabilities, to the federal student aid office, a trade union source told CNN.

The source said they have heard from dozens of employees who are fired, but the full extent of the layoffs was not immediately clear.

The American Federation of Government -Employees represent about 160 employees in the Department of Education falling under trial status.

Letters similar to the Department of Education Announcement on Termination were sent to employees in small business administrations on Tuesday. The full scale of the layoffs on the agency was unclear from Wednesday night.

On Friday and Monday, samplers all over the small business administration had received an unsigned draft notice of employment, according to the Internal Agency’s E -emails reviewed by CNN.

Later on Monday, the Agency sent another E -mail that advised employees that the draft message “was sent in error – and as such it is not at the moment in effect.” The e email continued: “If you receive the initial message, your employment is not terminated as it was incorrectly stated in the initial message.” Notices of termination were then sent to test employees the next day, according to the union, representing the employees.

Sample medical firing was also expected at the US Energy Department on Thursday night, according to six people who are familiar with the situation. The people said that the situation inside the department was fluid and was so far unclear how many total employees could face.

There are about 2,000 trial time staff in Doe, a person familiar with the agency’s staffing, CNN told, but it was unclear how many could be affected by Thursday’s actions. CNN has reached DOE for comment.

The Energy Department’s working general adviser had a Thursday meeting with departmental offices and asked offices to compile lists of “mission -critical” trial time staff who could potentially be exempt from the redundancies, the person told CNN. But these lists were not completed from Thursday afternoon, the person said.

Test staff is defined as federal staff who have been with the department for less than a year, but a recent office for personnel administration memo also said that federal employees who worked for less than two years could also be considered probation.

The dismissal of test workers has been in the works since the inauguration day when the acting leader of OPM sent a memo to all agencies who ordered them to compile a list of all their test workers and send it to the office. On January 20 -Memo noted it is easier to end these employees.

However, OM has advised agencies that they do not need to abolish all test workers, but should focus on those who have underpinned. CBS News first reported the advisory.

“The Trump administration calls on agencies to use the probationary period for which it was intended: as a continuation of the job application process, not a right to permanent employment,” McLaurine Pinover, an OM -Talt woman, said in a statement.

The layoffs are part of the administration’s multi -pronged effort to cut the size of the federal workforce. In addition to the exposed offer of resignation, Trump began the planning process for widespread redundancies on Tuesday when he signed a executive order that tells agency leaders to start preparations for reductions in effect or RIFs.

The president also hopes to push federal employees who work fully distant or telecommunications work on certain days by demanding that they return to the office full time. Plus, he has targeted federal employees involved in diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility initiatives and in the education department, the US Agency for International Development and the consumer’s financial protection agency.

This story has been updated with additional developments.

CNN’s Ella Nilsen contributed to this report.