Where Federal Workers Are Being Laid Off

Reportedly the biggest layoff of probationary federal workers so far under new Trump administration orders started Thursday at the Internal Revenue Service, where 6,700 employees are expected to be terminated. The Trump administration directed the IRS, like other federal agencies, to let go of workers who have not yet acquired civil service protections due to shorter tenures, typically below one or two years of employment. This includes new employees, temporary and seasonal employees, but also in some cases those who have switched jobs, according to reports.

Specialized news site Government Executive writes that those directly involved in critical roles during tax filing season - which is currently underway - are not included in the order. The number of announced layoffs tallied by Statista now tops 16,000. This is in addition to the reported number of 75,000 federal employees who took buyouts offered by the Trump administration. Still, both numbers combined make up less than 4 percent of the 2.4 million-strong non-military and non-postal federal workforce.

While probationary employees have fewer protections, there could still be challenges as poor performance was repeatedly cited as a standardized reason for termination - which is expected to lead to appeals, once more highlighting the legal issues the Trump administration has repeatedly run into. This is also true for the planned dismantling of the United States Agency for International Development, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, fired Inspectors General and potentially the Department of Education. 

Starting mid-February, announcements concerning the layoffs of probationary employees commenced at other departments and agencies of the U.S. government. According to reports from outlets catering to federal employees and the healthcare sector, 5,200 were slated to receive termination notices at the Department of Health and Human Services. Widely reported was the layoff of 1,300 at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, equal to 10 percent of its workforce. Cuts were also being carried out at the National Institutes of Health, including many nurses, as well as the Food and Drug Administration and Medicare, according to the reports. Some FDA cuts have since been rescinded as workers were deemed important for ongoing product reviews. The same happened for some employees of the Indian Health Service, the National Nuclear Security Administration (Department of Energy) and workers in the federal bird flu response (Department of Agriculture).

At the U.S. Forest Service alone, 3,400 employees or 10 percent or workers were on termination lists, while the number at the Department of Agriculture, which overseas it, was unclear. Another 1,000 people were reported to be receiving letters of termination at the National Park Service at the Department of the Interior, which laid off a total of 2,300. While around 80 percent of the federal workforce is not located in Washington D.C., this is even more true of the Forest Service and the National Park Service, whose employees are scattered around the country. The announcement caused outrage, for example, in Oregon or Montana, impacting small towns and remote areas at times. While no fire-fighting employees were let go, the move would still increase the danger of wildfires, according to Forest Service employees, as those studying and mitigating them are affected.

More concerns were raised about terminations at the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Homeland Security’s U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and the Federal Aviation Administration (Department of Transportation).