Union leader decries probationary layoffs of federal staff

The American Federation of Government Employees President Everett Kelley on Friday criticized reports of a mass layoff of federal employees holding probationary positions. Employees were given no due process and no prior notice, he said. Kelly, who called the departures firings, said they would eliminate talent that federal agencies would need for years to come. The decision from the Office of Personnel Management is the latest of several efforts by the White House to reduce the federal workforce.

Who decided to lay off whom? The White House’s Office of Personnel Management decided on Thursday to let go hundreds of thousands of probationary employees, the Associated Press reported. Some probationary employees had already lost their jobs before Thursday, according to the report.

The National Federation of Federal Employees—another labor union representing federal workers—on Wednesday joined a lawsuit against the Trump administration over its efforts to gut the federal workforce. One of the administrative actions the lawsuit targeted was the firing of probationary employees, the union said. The lawsuit claims the White House is undercutting Congress by firing workers whose hiring had been authorized by the legislative branch of government, the union said.

What does the White House have to say? President Donald Trump’s adviser Elon Musk has argued that too much bureaucracy stifles the American people’s right to a democratic, responsive government. He’s also told international leaders that the Trump administration is hoping to cut workers out of low-productivity government jobs and move them to high-productivity private sector jobs.

Dig deeper: Read Carolina Lumetta’s report in The Stew about the Senate discussing the future of the Department of Education.