The US government began to dismiss hundreds of people in various agencies on Thursday, according to the president Donald Trump e Elon Musk accelerate their purge of the US federal bureaucracy, they told the Reuters union sources and employees familiar with the changes.
Dismissal emails have been sent in the last 48 hours to government officials, mostly newly hired and probative, in the Department of Education, Small Business Administration, the Department of Financial Protection to the Consumer and the Administration of General services, which manages many federal buildings.
It was not immediately clear how many federal employees lost their jobs on the first wave of layoffs. According to government data, about 280,000 civil civil servants were hired less than two years ago, and most are still in the probationary period, which facilitates dismissal.
All employees in the probative period of the Personnel Administration Office (OPM), the US government’s human resources arm were fired on a group call on Thursday and guided to leave the agency’s headquarters In Washington, according to two sources.
OPM officials also met with other government agencies on Thursday and advised them to dismiss their employees in the probative period, with some exceptions, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Most public service employees can only be legally fired for bad performance or misconduct, and they have a number of appeal rights if arbitrarily dismissed. Employees in the probationary period aimed at the wave on Thursday have fewer legal protections.
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Thursday’s measures undergo Trump’s promise to reduce the size of the federal government and eradicate the “deep state”, a reference to the bureaucrats he considers not sufficiently loyal to him.
“The agency considers that you are not able to continue working because your capacity, knowledge and skills do not fit the current needs, and your performance has not been suitable for justifying a new job at the agency,” said letters sent to at least 45 Employees in probationary period in the administration of small businesses.
A Reuters had access to a copy of the dismissal letter.
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Letters sent to at least 160 employees recently hired by the Department of Education, also seen by Reutersthey said that the continuity of his job “would not be of public interest.”
An employee of the General Services Management, who said a month left to the end of his probative period and was receiving excellent performance evaluations, was informed this week that will be fired on Friday.
“Until two weeks ago, this was a dream job. Now it has become an absolute nightmare because of what is happening. I have small children and a mortgage to pay, ”the employee told the Reuters.
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The Cost Costs, the Cost Costs, did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but an OPM spokesman said mass layoffs were in accordance with the new government’s policy.
“The Trump administration is encouraging agencies to use the probative period of the way it was planned: as a continuation of the employment request process, not as a right to a permanent job,” said the spokesman.
