*

OPM probationary staff fired in group call

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Musk team member enters IRS, raising fears of cuts at tax

collecting agency

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U.S. embassies abroad told to prepare for staff cuts

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Termination notices sent to workers at Education

Department and

Small Business Administration

(Adds OPM officials advising other government agencies to fire

probationary employees in paragraph 4)

By Tim Reid and Nathan Layne

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

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

and 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 Department of Education, the Small

Business Administration, the Consumer Financial Protection

Bureau, and the General Services Administration, which manages

many federal buildings.

All probationary staff at the Office of Personnel

Management, the human resources arm for the U.S. government,

were fired in a group call on Thursday and told to leave the

agency's headquarters in Washington by 3 p.m. ET (2000 GMT), two

sources told Reuters.

OPM officials also met with other government agencies on

Thursday and advised them to lay off their probationary

employees, with some exceptions, according to a person familiar

with the matter.

Trump and Tesla CEO Musk's overhaul of the federal

government appeared to be widening as Musk aides arrived for the

first time at the federal tax-collecting agency, the Internal

Revenue Service, and U.S. embassies were told to prepare for

staff cuts.

It was not immediately clear on Thursday how many domestic

federal workers stood to lose their jobs in the first wave of

layoffs. But the move fulfills Trump's vow to reduce the size of

the federal government and root out the "deep state," a

reference to bureaucrats he views as not sufficiently loyal to

him.

"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 Department of

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

employment "would not be in the public interest."

Trump, a Republican serving his second term, repeatedly

called for the elimination of the Department of Education 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.

One GSA employee, who said he had one month left until his

probation period ended and had been receiving excellent

performance reviews, was told this week he will be fired on

Friday.

"Up until two weeks ago, this was an absolute dream job. Now

it's become an absolute nightmare because of what is going on. I

have small children and a mortgage to pay," the worker told

Reuters.

According to government data, about 280,000 civilian

government workers were hired less than two years ago, with most

still on probation.

Musk's cost-cutting Department of Government Efficiency

(DOGE) did not immediately respond to a request for comment for

this story, but a spokesperson for OPM said the firings were in

line with new government policy.

"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 spokesperson said.

About 75,000 workers have signed up for the buyout, White

House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters. That is

equal to 3% of the civilian workforce.

The deadline to take the offer expired on Wednesday evening.

Asked why workers were not given extra time to consider the

buyout so more would take it, Leavitt said, "I'm not so sure

that we didn't hit the numbers we wanted."

MASSIVE DOWNSIZING

Trump has tasked the South African-born Musk and his team at

DOGE, a temporary government agency, to undertake a massive

downsizing of the 2.3 million-strong civilian federal workforce.

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

at least 16 government agencies, where they have gained access

to computer systems with sensitive personnel and financial

information, and sent workers home.

Gavin Kliger, a top staffer in DOGE, arrived at a new

agency, the IRS, on Thursday, people familiar with the matter

told Reuters.

It was the first time a Musk aide has entered the IRS, a

longtime target of Republicans who claim without evidence that

the Biden administration weaponized the agency to target small

businesses and middle-class Americans with unnecessary audits.

Meanwhile, the Trump administration has asked U.S. embassies

worldwide to prepare for staff cuts, three sources familiar with

the matter told Reuters, as part of the president's effort to

overhaul the U.S. diplomatic corps.

Trump's overhaul of government has sown panic among

thousands of federal workers in the U.S. capital who fear they

may be targeted next.

In a video call addressing the World Government Summit in

Dubai on Thursday, Musk said, "We do need to delete entire

agencies."

Trump has pressed ahead with the effort despite a barrage of

lawsuits from labor unions and Democratic attorneys general and

criticism, including from several Republican budget experts,

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 in the

first weeks of Trump's presidency.