Today, Rep. Gerald E. Connolly, Ranking Member of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, led 141 House Democrats in sending a letter to Acting Director Charles Ezell of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) urging the agency to reinstate all unlawfully terminated probationary status federal employees and cease plans to carry out further reductions in force (RIFs).
“We write in strong opposition to the expansion of the Trump Administration’s efforts to purge nonpartisan civil servants from the federal workforce, specifically recent unlawful mass terminations of employees in probationary status,” wrote the Members. “Indiscriminately firing thousands of these employees threatens the future of the nonpartisan federal workforce and our government’s ability to deliver life-saving services to the American people. We strongly urge the Administration to reinstate all unlawfully terminated probationary status employees and cease plans to carry out further reductions in force (RIFs).”
As of May 2024, it is estimated that more than 220,000 federal employees held probationary status, although that number could be much higher. Federal employees are placed on a probationary period when they hold less than one year of service, but may also be in a probationary status if they transfer positions, offices, or departments, or receive promotions.
The Trump Administration is attempting to terminate en masse probationary status employees because these employees have fewer legal protections. Some reports indicate the Administration terminated employees without proper individualized performance reviews or notice. In many cases, the termination notices, which were sent via email, were inaccurate, misspelled employee names, or included vague information about employee performance.
“Our offices have received countless reports that individuals who were terminated under this RIF order based on ‘performance’ had documented excellent performance records and in some cases were employed by the federal government for decades,” the Members emphasized. “These arbitrary and capricious dismissals have already produced a chilling effect on skilled workers who desire a career with the federal civil service. These firings will also eliminate institutional expertise and undermine the strong, merit-based, and skilled federal workforce.”
The letter follows recent victories for federal workers who were unlawfully terminated by DOGE’s efforts to dismantle the federal workforce:
- On February 27, 2025, Ranking Member Connolly released a statement following a ruling by a federal judge blocking the Trump-Musk Administration’s unlawful mass firings of federal workers nationwide from several agencies, including the National Park Service, Department of Defense, the Bureau of Land Management, and others.
- On March 4, 2025, the National Science Foundation reinstated most of the probationary employees it had laid off at the direction of the Trump Administration’s orders to cut its workforce. The move to reinstate these employees with backpay and no break in service is the result of guidance from OPM and the federal courts.
- On March 5, 2025, Special Counsel Dellinger applauded the U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board’s stay of all likely unlawful terminations of probationary employees at the U.S. Department of Agriculture. In his statement, Special Counsel Dellinger called “on all federal agencies to voluntarily and immediately rescind any unlawful terminations of probationary employees.”
|
Click here to read the letter to Acting Director Charles Ezell.
