Federal Employees on Probation Do Not Have to Be Fired, OPM Says

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is now suggesting that agencies do not have to fire all their federal employees who are still on probation, a senior official told Newsweek.

Why It Matters

President Donald Trump's administration is offering federal workers a buyout, providing eight months of severance pay for voluntary resignations. The OPM sent an email offering a "dignified, fair departure" with full pay and benefits until September 30.

The email with the subject line "Fork in the road" was part of Trump's plan to shrink the federal workforce's size. It spread widespread confusion among government workers about their employment status. Workers who agree to the terms can "accept non-federal employment" during the deferred resignation period, the contract reads.

Trump ordered the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), in cooperation with the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the OPM, to submit a plan by April 20 to "reduce the size of the federal government's workforce through efficiency improvements and attrition."

What To Know

The new guidelines came after the OPM had previously suggested that the Trump buyout was "not a hastily assembled program." The organization told Newsweek the president was "making them an extremely generous offer."

The OPM had framed the severance offer as "administrative leave with pay and benefits" and distributed instructions via government email accounts. Over 2 million federal workers received the email.

Now, the OPM suggests that federal employees on probation, which often lasts one to two years, do not have to be fired. About 200,000 federal employees have probationary status, The Hill reported.

The probationary status does not exclude many employees from the same protections typical federal workers receive. They, too, must be informed of deficiencies that lead to them being fired.

"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 official told Newsweek.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) sent a letter to congressional leaders on Friday to ask them to investigate the plan to fire employees still in their probationary period.

The administration expects 5 to 10 percent of federal employees to accept Trump's eight months of severance pay offer, Axios reported. The federal government employs over 3 million workers, excluding military personnel, making it the nation's 15th largest workforce, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data.

Democrat lawmakers have argued that the Trump administration will renege on the incentives that have been promised.

"Don't be fooled by a fake offer," Virginia Senator Tim Kaine said on January 28. "That because he's terrorized you in the last week, it would be easy to just resign now and get a check for seven months. Because I can tell you, that promise is worth nothing."

Others have pointed out that the email's title and content closely resemble the one sent by DOGE lead Elon Musk to employees of Twitter, now X, in late 2022, following his purchase of the company.

A lawsuit against the OPM has been filed in Massachusetts by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees and other public employee unions.

What People Are Saying

The ACLU, in its Friday letter to congressional leaders: "We respectfully urge that you investigate the Administration's rationale and legal basis for these planned layoffs...Mass layoffs of federal employees of the sort that have been reported to be under consideration are presumptively and inherently illegal."

The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, in its press release on its lawsuit against the OPM: "The 'Fork Directive' is the latest attempt by the Trump-Vance administration to implement Project 2025's dangerous plans to remove career public service workers and replace them with partisan loyalists."

The OPM memo detailing the buyout policy: "During the first week of his administration, President Trump issued a number of directives concerning the federal workforce. Among those directives, the President required that employees return to in-person work, restored accountability for employees who have policy-making authority, restored accountability for senior career executives, and reformed the federal hiring process to focus on merit. As a result of the above orders, the reform of the federal workforce will be significant."

Virginia Democratic Senator Tim Kaine, on the Senate floor January 28: "The president has no authority to make that offer. There's no budget line item to pay people who are not showing up for work."

Texas Democratic Representative Jasmine Crockett, on X on January 28: "Trump is offering a fake 'buyout' to federal workers with no guarantee he won't screw them the minute they accept—and then replace them with unqualified, inexperienced loyalists the

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, at a briefing: "This is a suggestion to federal workers that they have to return to work. If they don't, then they have the option to resign, and this administration is very generously offering to pay them for eight months."

Elon Musk on X: "Those deciding to take the deferred resignation deal can do anything they want for the next 8 months and are not required to work at all whatsoever."

What Happens Next

Federal employees are forced to weigh their options as the resignation deadline approaches. A federal judge in Massachusetts has put a freeze on the buyout.