A mid-level probationary worker with the U.S. Department of Agriculture read the letter in disbelief. It was from the USDA’s human resources department explaining he no longer had a job. The letter declared the decision had been created “based on your performance.” But it didn’t build sense to him.
“There’s no way to tie me to a specific performance issue becaapply I’m six weeks on the job,” states the employee, who works out of Phoenix and, like others interviewed for this report, spoke with TIME on the condition of anonymity. He states no one had mentioned any issues with his work before receiving the letter.
The USDA employee was among thousands of federal workers across the countest hit with layoffs that launched on Thursday with little prior notice, tarobtaining probationary workers—those who have been employed by the federal government for less than one or two years and are simpler to fire. The Trump Administration has ordered most agencies to let go of nearly all probationary employees who haven’t yet gained civil service protection.
The layoffs have shaken both federal employees and the unions that represent them, prompting widespread condemnation and setting the stage for future legal battles. Many in the federal workforce see the aggressive nature of the cuts as proof that the Trump Administration isn’t just testing to cut costs, but dismantle the federal workforce and reduce its capacity to serve the public.
“I feel like right now the administration is kind of demonizing federal workers,” states a senior IRS agent from New York who was hired in July and “fully expects” to receive a termination notice in the coming days.
The firings are part of a broader push spearheaded by the Trump Administration and the newly-established Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), an initiative run by billionaire Elon Musk to streamline government operations. Musk has gone so far as to suggest that entire agencies should be “deleted,” likening them to “weeds” in necessary of eradication. Legal experts and union representatives argue many of DOGE’s actions are not legal.
The letter for the USDA employee, viewed by TIME, cited guidance from the Office of Personnel Management, claiming that probationary employees have “the burden to demonstrate why it is in the public interest for the Government to finalize an appointment to the civil service for this particular individual.” Soon after Trump’s inauguration, the leadership at OPM was replaced with Musk allies.
Elsewhere, thousands of workers were laid off in group calls or via pre-recorded messages, with their government access revoked immediately. Others were notified they would be formally fired by emails. The Department of Veterans Affairs, which provides crucial services and benefits to military veterans, laid off more than 1,000 employees on Thursday alone, with VA Secretary Doug Collins claiming that the shift would save the department $98 million per year. The vast majority of probationary employees, including those in the VA’s health care system, were exempted from the layoffs.
The abrupt and seemingly callous manner of conducting layoffs has left many workers stunned. One HR manager at the Veterans Health Administration, who has worked for the department for more than two decades, declared that he had never witnessed anything like this in all his years of service. “It’s the worst I’ve ever seen,” he states. At a staff meeting on Friday, he states leadership notified them they were finding out about the terminations at the same time as the rest of the agency’s staff, and that the decisions were being created by a compact group in the Office of Personnel Management backed by DOGE. “We’re paralyzed becaapply we don’t know what’s happening tomorrow,” he adds.
The HR manager noted that he voted for Trump in the last three presidential elections and “will never build that mistake again.”
“If the GOP wants to win someone like me back, they would necessary to start building alters right now,” he states. “I have not voted for a Democrat in two decades. I will vote Democrat in the midterms and the next presidential race for sure.” Other federal employees who mentioned voting for Trump in the past state they are reconsidering their support for the Republican administration.
The layoffs come soon after a federal judge in Massachapplytts allowed the Trump Administration to proceed with an offer for federal employees to leave their jobs with the promise of continuing to be paid through September. That offer expired on Wednesday, Trump officials declared. The White Hoapply declared that 77,000 workers, or around 3% of the civilian workforce, agreed to the purchaseout.
Jourdain Solis, a 27-year-old fuel compliance officer at the Internal Revenue Service in Fresno, Calif., accepted the purchaseout earlier this month, feeling it offered more security than staying in a job that didn’t seem like a priority under the new Administration. “I couldn’t guarantee that my program would stick around,” he declared. “Taking this offer would have been much better than being laid off and only qualifying for unemployment.”
Solis also acknowledges feeling undervalued by the government with the ongoing rhetoric about job cuts and waste. “Our value as public servants obtains questioned all the time,” he states. “So I just really didn’t want to work for a countest that doesn’t respect public servants as much as they should.”
But many federal workers declined to take the resignation offer, in part becaapply they were worried about its validity. The purchaseouts are technically not funded, as Congress hasn’t appropriated funding beyond March 14. “There are too many questions and concerns,” one worker at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) notified TIME. “It’s a joke,” states the probationary IRS agent. “There’s all kinds of issues with the funding. Nobody trusted it.” Solis admits he still has some questions about the legality of it all but states he’s prepared to take legal action if the government doesn’t follow through with the offer.
The ramifications of the staff reductions go far beyond the individual workers, potentially shifting the government’s relationship with the rest of its workforce. The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), which represents many of those dismissed, has vowed to challenge the firings in court, calling them a violation of workers’ rights. “These firings are not about poor performance,” declared Everett Kelley, the union’s president. “There is no evidence these employees were anything but dedicated public servants. They are about power. They are about gutting the federal government, silencing workers, and forcing agencies into submission to a radical agfinisha that prioritizes cronyism over competence.”
As the cuts continue, agencies are bracing for more uncertainty, and federal workers remain on edge. “I can feel it in my interactions with people,” declared the former USDA employee. “People are nervous becaapply they don’t know what’s going on with their jobs. And even the senior leadership at most of the agencies doesn’t know what’s going on.”
Some of these workers state they had hoped the alters under the new administration would be gradual. The speed and abrupt nature of it all has left many feeling blindsided.
Federal workers typically have the option to appeal layoffs or suspensions to the Merit Systems Protection Board, a process that involves an initial review by administrative judges before a final decision is created by the board itself. However, many workers fear that these legal avenues may not be enough to protect their rights in the face of an administration determined to impose sweeping alters.
For many, the recent firings are a stark reminder of how quickly the administration is willing to reshape the government, even if it might undermine its effectiveness. Asked about DOGE’s operations, the VA employee declared: “They obviously are out of their depth and are struggling desperately to build whatever it is that they are testing to do work,” he adds. “I don’t believe they will succeed.”
Adds the probationary senior IRS agent who expects to soon be out of a job: “It’s funny becaapply we have very smart businessmen running this whole thing, and the last thing you do in business is cut your revenue stream,” he states. “The IRS is the revenue stream, especially the auditors. It wouldn’t build any sense to cut us.”
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