Turmoil in the Federal Workforce: Mass Firings and Legal Battles Rock the Trump Administration

The early weeks of President Donald Trump’s administration have been marked by unprecedented upheaval within the federal workforce, characterized by mass firings, legal challenges, and a concerted effort to reshape the structure and size of the government. Guided by billionaire Elon Musk and his Department Of Government Efficiency aides, Trump’s agenda has focused on dismantling aspects of the federal bureaucracy, sparking widespread concern among federal employees and labor unions.

The initial wave of changes began with a buyout offer extended to nearly all 2.3 million federal employees. Delivered via a surprise email titled "The Fork in the Road," the offer promised eight months of pay and benefits to those who resigned by February 6th. The proposal was met with skepticism, as unions cautioned that the president’s ability to fulfill the promise was uncertain, given that Congress had not yet approved funding for federal agencies beyond March 14th.

Simultaneously, the Trump administration initiated a hiring freeze across the executive branch, prohibiting the filling of any vacant federal civilian positions and barring the creation of new positions, with only rare exceptions. These measures were followed by an executive order reviving a policy from Trump’s first administration known as Schedule F. This directive creates a new employment classification for tens of thousands of nonpartisan career civil servants, effectively stripping them of job protections by reclassifying them as at-will positions, meaning they can be dismissed for nearly any reason.

When the buyout offer failed to achieve the administration’s desired reduction in workforce numbers, with only approximately 3.3% of federal employees accepting, a more drastic course of action was implemented. Tens of thousands of probationary federal workers were laid off. These probationary workers include employees in their first year or two on the job, people who have recently moved between federal agencies and people who were recently promoted.

The firings affected employees across all 50 states and spanned numerous agencies that Americans frequently interact with, including the National Park Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Veterans Affairs, Internal Revenue Service, and National Institutes of Health.

The White House remained silent on the precise number of employees terminated, despite repeated requests for information. The firings are expected to extend to workers not in a probationary period.

The administration also warned federal employees that they could be furloughed if they did not accept the buyout offer, according to an email obtained by USA TODAY.

The email warned employees that many will be stripped of civil-service protections and suggested there may be loyalty tests for those who remain.

The Trump administration has ordered heads of federal departments and agencies to prepare to initiate large-scale reductions in force by March 13 as Trump shifts to a more aggressive phase of cutting the federal workforce beyond recently hired or promoted employees.

A memo sent by the Personnel Management and Management and Budget offices has also instructed federal departments to eliminate and consolidate duplicative positions, reduce their property footprints and produce reorganization plans for their agencies.

These actions prompted immediate legal challenges from federal employee unions, who argued that the Schedule F executive order aimed to politicize the federal government by stripping federal workers of essential job protections. One suit also alleged that the Trump administration lacked any statutory basis for the buyout offer.

The United States Agency for International Development ‒ two-thirds of whom work overseas across 60 countries ‒ were notified that they will be placed on administrative leave at the end of the week as part of Trumps move to dismantle the foreign aid agency.

U.S. District Judge George O’Toole issued a temporary restraining order pausing the Trump administration’s deadline to accept the buyout in order to allow time for labor unions to challenge the plans legality. The American Federation of Government Employees and two other unions filed the lawsuit arguing that the administration lacks any statutory basis for the unprecedented offer. The Trump administration’s lawyers had argued that extending the deadline on the very last day would “markedly disrupt the expectations of the federal workforce, inject tremendous uncertainty into a program that scores of federal employees have already availed themselves of, and hinder the administration’s efforts to reform the federal workforce.”

Adding to the turmoil, the administration ordered all federal department and agency heads to produce lists of their lowest-performing employees, along with potential barriers to swiftly terminating poor performing employees who cannot or will not improve. An aide to Trump fired Hampton Dellinger, who leads the Office of the Special Counsel, on the night of Feb. 7 in a one-sentence email. Dellinger sued, arguing that 1978 federal law creating his position states he can only be removed from his job because of inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance.

Within a matter of minutes Trump fired the leaders of two other boards that federal workers can turn to as an avenue to contest their firing. Union challenges to the firings have been rejected because they have not first gone through these boards.

Trump fired Merit Systems Protection Board chair Cathy Harris, just before 11 p.m., leaving the board with two members – Raymond Limon, a Democrat whose term expires Saturday, and Henry Kerner, a Republican. A court temporarily reinstated Harris, whose term doesnt expire until 2028, after she sued. The Merit Systems Protection Board is tasked with protecting federal workers against partisan politics and illegal employment practices. It cannot operate without a quorum.

Trump also fired the Federal Labor Relations Authority board chair, Susan Grundmann, three and a half minutes before he fired Cathy Harris. The authority handles certain complaints with federal workers’ labor unions.

She’s suing to be reinstated, but for the time being, Trump named Colleen Kiko, a Republican member, as chair, presiding over only one other member, Democrat Anne Wagner.

Also on Feb. 10, a court temporarily reinstated Dellinger, who promptly asked the Merit Systems Protection Board to pause the terminations of six probationary employees at six agencies, and reinstate them while he investigated their cases. The Supreme Court has declined to take up the administrations case while Dellingers challenge goes forward.

The firings have continued in the weeks since, including more than 880 probationary employees of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration – which forecasts the nation’s weather and protects ocean species – on Thursday.

A coalition of federal employee unions sued the administration, alleging that officials misused the probationary period to eliminate staff and that the Office of Personnel Management directed federal agencies to use a standardized termination notice falsely claiming performance issues in firing tens of thousands of employees. “OPM, the federal agency charged with implementing this nation’s employment laws, in one fell swoop has perpetrated one of the most massive employment frauds in the history of this country, telling tens of thousands of workers that they are being fired for performance reasons, when they most certainly were not,” the unions argued in court documents.

Dellinger, who leads the Office of the Special Counsel, said firing probationary employees was illegal because it used boilerplate language blaming their performance rather than specific concerns and asked the Merit Systems Protection Board to decide whether to reinstate six employees while he investigates further.

Federal law generally requires 60 days notice for a reduction in force (what the federal government calls layoffs) and prohibits probationary employees from being fired for reasons unrelated to performance or conduct.

The Merit Systems Protection Board orders six fired federal employees to be rehired at least through April 10, while Dellingers office investigates. “I find that there are reasonable grounds to believe that each of the six agencies engaged in a prohibited personnel practice,” stated the order. The Office of Special Counsel has said it is considering ways to seek relief for a broader group of federal employees similarly fired in recent weeks.

Judge William Alsup of the U.S. District Court for the Northern California District temporarily blocked the Trump administration from its mass firing of probationary federal employees.

Alsup said the mass firings were likely unlawful and ordered the Office of Personnel Management to halt the action, saying the agency acted out of bounds by telling other agencies – including the Education Department, the Small Business Administration and the Energy Department – to fire employees.

“OPM does not have any authority whatsoever, under any statute in the history of the universe, to hire or fire any employees, but its own,” Alsup said. The judge did not order the rehiring of anyone who had been terminated.

These sweeping changes and legal battles have created a climate of uncertainty and anxiety within the federal workforce, raising questions about the future of government services and the role of career civil servants. The ongoing legal challenges and political debates suggest that the reshaping of the federal government under the Trump administration is far from over.