Trump Admin Is Telling Agencies to Continue Federal Worker Probationary Period

The entrance to the Theodore Roosevelt Federal Building that houses the Office of Personnel Management headquarters in Washington on June 5, 2015. Mark Wilson/Getty Images

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is telling agencies to continue to use the probationary period for federal workers after the Trump administration issued a directive last month for agency heads to review workers under probation for possible dismissal.

“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,” an OPM official told The Epoch Times on Wednesday.

The spokesperson also confirmed reports that it is instructing the heads of agencies that they do not have to terminate all government employees who are on probation but to instead focus on low-performing workers.

New federal workers generally have to undergo a probationary period for about one year, but in some cases, for longer periods of time, according to USAJobs. During that time period, an agency manager can decide whether a person is the right person for the job, and if they are not, the employer can terminate the worker’s employment at any point in the probationary period.

In a memorandum last month, then-Acting Director of the OPM Charles Ezell issued a memo saying that heads and acting heads of all U.S. departments and agencies need to identify all probationary workers and send a list to OPM for review. Ezell also said at the time that such employees can be dismissed without triggering appeal rights to the Merit Systems Protection Board, a federal panel for mediating disputes between employees and agencies.

And earlier in February, the OPM sent a memo that directs agencies to submit the names of every employee who has received less than a “fully successful” performance rating in the past three years and to note whether the workers have been on performance plans.

The memo also emphasized that the agencies report any obstacles to ensure they have “the ability to swiftly terminate poor performing employees who cannot or will not improve.”

The memo seeks the employee’s name, job title, pay plan, and other details, as well as whether that employee is “under or successfully completed a performance improvement plan within the last 12 months.”

The memo and OPM directive, among others, are part of a Trump administration plan to downsize the federal workforce. On Tuesday evening, President Donald Trump signed another executive order relating to government employees and directed agencies to work with the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to approve almost all new hiring.

“The agency shall not fill any vacancies for career appointments that the DOGE Team Lead assesses should not be filled, unless the Agency Head determines the positions should be filled,” the order said.

DOGE was created by Trump last month as part of a plan to target what he and Musk have said are excess government waste and fraud.

In addition, the Office of Management and Budget will mandate that federal agencies “hire no more than one employee for every four employees that depart,” according to Trump’s order. Some exceptions would be granted for positions related to law enforcement, public safety, and immigration.

Agency and department heads were also ordered to make plans for “large-scale reductions in force,” his order said. Government agencies and functions that are not required by statute would be prioritized for termination, it said.

Tom Ozimek and The Associated Press contributed to this report.