Unions sue over Trump admin efforts to fire probationary federal employees
A coalition of government employee unions sued late Wednesday over the Trump administration’s efforts to fire employees still in their probationary period across the federal government.
The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has directed agencies to terminate the employees, who can be more easily removed as they remain on probation anywhere from one year to two years after being hired, depending on their agency.
The lawsuit, filed in federal court in San Francisco, claims OPM is usurping congressional authority. It adds to more than 80 lawsuits challenging major Trump administration actions since his inauguration one month ago.
“OPM is an agency with no statutory authority to make termination decisions for federal employees (Other than for OPM’s own employees). Notwithstanding this lack of legal authority, OPM ordered federal agencies throughout the nation, including in this District, to wipe out their ranks of probationary employees without any regard to applicable statutes,” the lawsuit states.
The Hill has reached out to the Justice Department for comment.
The case is brought by several unions affiliated with the AFL-CIO that represent the federal workforce: the American Federation of Government Employees, one of its local chapters, the American Federation of Municipal Employees and the United Nurses Associations of California.
The AFL-CIO has already brought multiple lawsuits against the new administration over its ambitious efforts to slash trillions of dollars in federal spending.
The union has sued to try to block Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) from accessing sensitive systems at various federal agencies, including OPM. It has also unsuccessfully sought to end the buyout offer extended to most federal employees.
But the new lawsuit is the first to directly focus on the administration’s efforts to cut probationary employees, claiming tens of thousands have already been terminated.
OPM ordered agencies last Thursday to terminate probationary employees, reversing a directive just days earlier, when agencies were told to remove probationary employees only if they were poor performers.
Since the new directive, which could impact up to 200,000 employees, agencies have quickly begun slashing their workforce.
The Department of Homeland Security fired roughly 400 employees, as did the Environmental Protection Agency, while the Interior Department has fired about 2,300 people. Cuts still loom at other agencies, including the Defense Department.
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