Trump administration begins mass layoffs across multiple federal agencies: Sources
The Trump administration has begun mass layoffs across multiple federal agencies, a move that is expected to affect thousands of employees across the government, sources familiar with the matter told ABC News on Thursday.
The firings initially affected probationary employees, recent hires who joined the federal workforce within the last one to two years, depending on the agency, who have fewer protections.
Among the agencies experiencing layoffs are the Department of Education, the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau, the Office of Personnel Management, the Environmental Protective Agency, the General Services Administration and the Small Business Administration.
Additional agencies were directed to begin their layoffs Thursday, sources said. At some agencies, workers received written notice via email that they had been let go.
At OPM, workers joined a call with a prerecorded message from the acting director notifying them of their firing, according to someone familiar with the call. There were about 200 probationary workers on that call, the sources said.
Prior to the layoffs, agencies had been directed by OPM to compile lists of probationary employees at their agencies, sources familiar with the matter told ABC News.
-ABC News' Will Steakin, Ben Siegel and Katherine Faulders
