WASHINGTON, Feb 24 (Reuters) - The National Highway

Traffic Safety Administration laid off 4% of its staff as part

of a government-wide trimming of probationary employees, a

spokesperson said Monday.

The agency has pending investigations into Tesla,

which is headed by Elon Musk, the CEO of the automaker and

President Donald Trump's senior adviser leading efforts to

shrink the government.

NHTSA said under President Joe Biden the agency grew by 30%

and is still considerably larger after the job cuts earlier this

month. Its workforce was about 800 before the job cuts.