*

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 reference to lawsuit brought by 14 states, details,

paragraphs 2, 6, 7)

By Tim Reid, Nathan Layne and Karen Freifeld

WASHINGTON, Feb 13 (Reuters) - The U.S. government began

firing hundreds of people at multiple agencies on Thursday as

President Donald Trump and Elon Musk accelerate their purge of

America's federal bureaucracy, union sources and employees

familiar with the moves told Reuters.

Termination emails have been sent in the past 48 hours to

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.

It was not immediately clear how many domestic federal

workers stood to lose their jobs in the first wave of layoffs.

According to government data, about 280,000 civilian government

workers were hired less than two years ago with most still on

probation, which makes them easier to fire.

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, two sources said.

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.

Even as the firings commenced, a group of 14 states filed a

federal lawsuit in Washington alleging that Trump appointed Musk

illegally, giving him "unchecked legal authority" without

authorization from the U.S. Congress.

Most civil service employees can be fired legally only for

bad performance or misconduct, and they have a host of due

process and appeal rights if they are let go arbitrarily. The

probationary employees targeted in Thursday's wave have fewer

legal protections.

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.

Trump has defended the effort, saying the federal government

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

fraud. The federal government has some $36 trillion in debt and

ran a $1.8 trillion deficit last year, and there is bipartisan

agreement on the need for government reform. But critics have

questioned the blunt force approach of Musk, who has amassed

extraordinary influence in Trump's presidency.

'YOU ARE NOT FIT'

Thursday's moves fulfill 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, on Wednesday

reiterated his desire to close the Department of Education.

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.

Musk's cost-cutting Department of Government Efficiency, or

DOGE, did not immediately respond to a request for comment, 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 Africa-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

said.

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 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.