Mass government layoffs have reportedly begun under the White House’s plan to shrink the federal bureaucracy.
The firings have been happening over the last 48 hours, Reuters reported Thursday (Feb. 13), citing union sources and employees familiar with the situation.
The layoffs have primarily targeted recently-hired workers still on probation, at agencies including the Department of Education, Small Business Administration (SBA), the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), and the General Services Administration (GSA), which manages federal buildings, the report said.
The news follows reports from earlier in the week that a number of CFPB employees had been laid off via email.
While it’s not clear how many workers were impacted, Reuters noted that the move is in line with Trump’s promise to shrink the size of the government and combat the “deep state,” his term for bureaucrats he sees as insufficiently loyal.
One GSA worker with a month left in his probation period — and who told Reuters he had been receiving excellent performance reviews — was informed he would be fired Friday (Feb. 14).
“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 employee said.
The firings come as the Trump-created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) — led by Elon Musk, whose company Space X was the president’s biggest donor — works to root out what the two have claimed is rampant fraud and waste inside the government.
Their efforts have led to pushback and lawsuits from unions and attorneys general in several Democrat-controlled states.
While some agencies are shrinking, others are on the chopping block altogether. Among them is the CFPB, one of America’s top banking regulators and a long-time target of Republican ire.
Over the weekend, the agency’s acting director ordered staff to work remotely, while also essentially freezing all of the bureau’s enforcement efforts. This uncertainty is not good for the financial world, Amias Gerety, a former Obama administration assistant treasury secretary, told PYMNTS Karen Webster earlier this week.
“If nobody’s home, you have financial services entities just trying to make their best guess,” said Gerety, now partner at QED Investors. “‘Do your best’ is not a great way to run a financial services company.”
