Trump administration lays off probationary government workers

Washington: The Trump administration on Thursday intensified its sweeping efforts to shrink the size of the federal workforce, the nation's largest employer, by ordering agencies to lay off nearly all probationary employees who had not yet gained civil service protection — potentially affecting hundreds of thousands of workers. President Donald Trump signed an executive order Tuesday that told agency leaders to plan for “large-scale reductions in force.” Elon Musk, whom President Trump has given wide leeway to slash government spending with his Department of Government Efficiency, called Thursday for the elimination of whole agencies. “If we don’t remove the roots of the weed, then it’s easy for the weed to grow back.” Paul Light, an expert on the federal government and professor emeritus of public service at New York University, said it seemed like the administration was “inventing new methods for destroying government capacity.” “You’re basically harassing your own workforce at the end of the day,” he said. “I’m hearing from longtime VA researchers in my home state of Washington who are right now being told to immediately stop their research and pack their bags,” Murray said in a statement, “not because their work isn’t desperately needed, but because Trump and Elon have decided to fire these researchers on a whim.” Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, a group that defends government workers, said the Agriculture Department’s Food Safety and Inspection Service would be hit especially hard by laying off probationary employees because it has trouble recruiting inspectors required to be present at all times at most slaughterhouses. “That’s what Elon is working so hard on.” The Republican president has also been sharply critical of federal workers, especially those who want to keep working remotely, though his administration is simultaneously working to cut federal office space and ordering the termination of worksite leases throughout the government.