The acting director of the Office of Personnel Management has told agency heads to begin firing federal employees who are on their probationary period, according to a source familiar with the decision.
The move may be an abrupt development for those employees, whose probation typically lasts a year or more after being hired.
But "the probationary period is a continuation of the job application process, not an entitlement for permanent employment," an OPM spokesman told Scripps News. "Agencies are taking independent action in light of the recent hiring freeze and in support of the President's broader efforts to restructure and streamline the federal government to better serve the American people at the highest possible standard."
Unions representing government workers condemned the decision, saying they intended to fight the firings "every step of the way."
"Despite OPM's guidance earlier this week advising agencies not to engage in sweeping terminations, the administration has plowed forward," said Everett Kelley, president of the American Federation of Government Employees. "Employees were given no notice, no due process, and no opportunity to defend themselves in a blatant violation of the principles of fairness and merit that are supposed to govern federal employment."
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It is the latest step in a nearly government-wide push to reduce the size of the administrative body.
Federal workers faced a deadline this week to either continue in their jobs or accept a buyout proposal, which the government said would see them paid their salaries through September. Unions and rights groups sued to block the proposal, alleging it was unconstitutional and warning it may not be honored.
President Donald Trump on Tuesday also signed an executive order meant to sharply reduce the size of the federal workforce.
The order includes a specific requirement that the government can only hire one new position for every four that are eliminated.
The White House said the order directs the government to eliminate parts or the whole of agencies whose "functions aren’t required by law."
