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Termination notices sent to workers at Education

Department and

Small Business Administration

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US judge clears way for federal workers to take Trump

buyout

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Trump defends effort, saying government is too big

By Tim Reid

WASHINGTON, Feb 13 (Reuters) - Mass firings at multiple

U.S. government agencies have begun as President Donald Trump

and Tesla CEO Elon Musk accelerate their purge of

America's federal bureaucracy, union sources and employees

familiar with the layoffs told Reuters on Thursday.

Termination emails have been sent in the past 48 hours to

scores of government workers, mostly recently hired employees

still on probation, at the Education Department, the Small

Business Administration (SBA), the Consumer Financial Protection

Bureau (CFPB), and the General Services Administration (GSA).

"The Agency finds that you are not fit for continued

employment because your ability, knowledge and skills do not fit

the current needs, and your performance has not been adequate to

justify further employment with the Agency," letters sent to at

least 45 probationers at the SBA stated.

Reuters has seen a copy of the termination letter.

Letters to at least 160 recent hires at the Education

Department, also seen by Reuters, told them that their continued

employment "would not be in the public interest."

Trump repeatedly called for the elimination of the Education

Department during his presidential campaign. On Wednesday he

called it a "con job" and said he wants it closed.

About 100 probationary employees received termination

letters on Wednesday at the GSA, according to two people

familiar with the firings.

MASSIVE DOWNSIZING

The firings come as Trump has tasked the South African-born

Musk and members of his Department of Government Efficiency

(DOGE) to undertake a massive downsizing of the 2.3

million-strong civilian federal workforce and the potential

shuttering of entire government agencies.

DOGE did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

A spokesperson at the Office of Personnel Management, the

human resources arm for the U.S. government, said: "The Trump

administration is encouraging agencies to use the probationary

period as it was intended: as a continuation of the job

application process, not an entitlement for permanent

employment."

The unprecedented cost-cutting initiative has sown panic

among federal workers in the U.S. capital and public protests.

Trump has sought to press ahead with the effort despite a

barrage of lawsuits from labor unions and Democratic

attorneys-general and criticism from some fellow Republicans

that the initiative is ideologically driven.

Trump has defended the effort, saying the federal government

is too bloated and that too much money is lost to waste and

fraud. While there is bipartisan agreement on the need for

government reform, critics have questioned the blunt force

approach of Musk, who has amassed extraordinary influence.

According to government data, there are about 280,000

civilian government workers who were hired less than two years

ago, with most still on probation.

On Tuesday, with Musk by his side in the Oval Office, Trump

signed an executive order vastly expanding the power of DOGE,

ordering U.S. agencies to prepare for mass layoffs and work

closely with Musk's team in identifying government employees who

can be laid off.

LEGAL VICTORY

The firings come as Trump scored a major legal victory on

Wednesday in his efforts to dismantle the federal bureaucracy,

when a federal judge ruled that a buyout offer to government

workers could proceed.

About 75,000 workers have signed up for the buyout, said a

spokesperson for the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, equal

to 3% of the civilian workforce.

Musk, the world's richest person, has sent DOGE members into

at least 15 government agencies, where they have gained access

to computer systems with sensitive personnel and financial

information, sent workers home.

They have led a successful drive to hollow out two agencies

- the U.S. Agency for International Development that provides a

lifeline to the world's needy, and the CFPB, which protects

Americans from unscrupulous lenders.

About 70 probationers at the CFPB were sent termination

letters on Tuesday night.

"It's just so stressful to deal with, it's hard to take,"

one career employee at the CFPB told Reuters after the

probationers were fired. The agency has been shuttered and

full-time staff sent home. "We all feel that we will be next."

Republicans have railed against the CFPB since its creation

in the wake of the 2008 financial crash, declaring it an example

of liberal overreach.