Federal Government Layoff Tracker: EPA Reportedly Firing DEI Workers

Forbes

22-04-2025

The Environmental Protection Agency reportedly told nearly 300 employees this week they would be fired or reassigned as part of President Donald Trump's efforts to cut diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives in the federal government.
President Donald Trump waves before departing on Marine One from the South Lawn of the White House ... More on March 7.
Environmental Protection Agency: The EPA notified about 280 employees working on environmental justice and diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives they would be fired or reassigned, The Washington Post reported, part of an effort to close the EPA's Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights, which had placed 171 of its employees on administrative leave then reinstated dozens working in regional offices less than a month later, according to a previous Washington Post report.
Health and Human Services: The cuts Kennedy is expected to announce would shrink about a quarter of the department's workforce, according to the Journal, which reported internal documents show plans to close five regional offices, cut about 15% of FDA employees, 18% of employees at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 6% of National Institutes of Health workers and 4% of employees at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services as part of a department-wide reorganization that includes consolidation of some divisions and the creation of a new Administration for a Health America and Assistant Secretary of Enforcement to investigate Medicare-related disputes.
Department of Defense: The Pentagon aims to cut about 6,000 employees each month by not filling vacated positions, according to the Associated Press, citing an unnamed defense official, after the agency said in February it began laying off approximately 5,400 probationary workers, or 5% to 8% of its civilian staff, to comply with the Department of Government Efficiency's workforce reduction plan. The fired probationary workers must be reinstated, according to a March 13 order from U.S. District Judge William Alsup that was upheld by a federal appeals court on March 18.
Department of Education: The agency announced on March 11 it would begin the process for laying off half of its workers, about 2,000 employees, and told staff its Washington, D.C., and regional offices would be closed Wednesday, as the Trump administration has expressed plans to shut down the agency, alleging its a symbol of bureaucratic bloat (the agency has already reportedly laid off dozens of probationary employees).
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration: The agency is preparing to lay off more than 1,000 employees in a second round of layoffs that is expected to impact about 10% of its workforce, multiple outlets reported in mid-March, prompting fears it would affect the agency's weather forecasting work ahead of hurricane season and other potential natural disasters.
Central Intelligence Agency: The agency has started to fire some probationary employees, multiple outlets reported, after firing some diversity staffers in February who had been placed on leave as part of the Trump administration's push to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives across the federal government—it's unclear what prompted the latest round of firings, but a federal judge ruled in February that CIA Director John Ratcliffe had the authority to fire officers at will.
Department of Veterans Affairs: The VA plans to cut more than 80,000 workers beginning in June in an attempt to return to 2019 staffing levels, its chief of staff, Christopher Syrek, reportedly said in an internal memo viewed by Reuters. The agency announced about 2,400 probationary employees were dismissed in mid-February in two waves, though Alsup ordered them to be reinstated in his March 13 ruling.
Internal Revenue Service: The IRS was preparing to reduce its nearly 100,000-person workforce by about 50% through layoffs and buyouts, multiple outlets reported in early March, with a reduction of 20% of staff by May 15, CNN reported March 13—after the Trump administration already laid off about 7,000 IRS workers and reportedly set out to close more than 110 offices in February, at the peak of tax season.
USAID: Thousands of employees were reportedly given 15-minute windows on Feb. 27 and 28 to clear their office spaces as the Trump administration has sought to dismantle the agency, firing or placing on leave 5,600 workers, while Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on March 10 that 83% of USAID programs had been shut down—though a federal judge on March 18 ordered the Trump administration to restore the agency's functionality, ruling that shutting it down 'likely violated the United States Constitution in multiple ways.'
Social Security Administration: The agency plans to cut its staff by about 7,000 employees, or 12%, according to multiple reports, while an unnamed source told the Associated Press the staffing cuts could amount to as much as 50% of its workforce, though the agency has rejected the report as 'false' and a 'rumor.'
Labor Department: The agency plans to reduce staff in an office that handles equal employment opportunity laws by 90%, The Washington Post reported, though it's unclear how many employees will be affected.
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration: The agency—which has open safety investigations into Elon Musk's Tesla company—laid off 4% of its staff, a spokesman said in a statement that said the agency grew by 30% during President Joe Biden's administration, noting it 'retained positions critical to the mission of saving lives, preventing injuries, and reducing economic costs due to road traffic crashes.'
Federal Emergency Management Agency: The Trump administration has directed senior officials in the FEMA resilience office, which helps communities prepare for potential disasters and mitigate risk, to identify employees who work or worked on 'climate, environmental justice, equity and DEIA' initiatives for potential firings, CNN reported, citing an email sent to the resilience office officials that said the directive could 'impact the majority' of staff, as Trump has suggested previously he wants to eliminate FEMA entirely and DOGE is conducting a review of FEMA operations.
TSA: More than 240 employees were fired in February 'due to performance and conduct issues during their probationary period,' TSA spokesperson Robert Langston told Bloomberg—the outlet added it's not unusual for probationary TSA workers to be terminated due to performance, and the Office of Personnel Management notes it's 'less cumbersome' to fire federal staff during the probationary period soon after they're hired.
Office of Community Planning and Development: The Trump administration is aiming to cut the office, an arm of the department of Housing and Urban Development, from 936 staffers to 150, or 84%, the New York Times reported Feb. 20, citing a document it obtained detailing the plans.
Health agencies: Some 5,200 probationary employees across the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are being targeted for layoffs, according to multiple outlets, with Bloomberg reporting that employees at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and the Food and Drug Administration were also laid off.
Department of Energy: As many as 2,000 probationary employees at the agency have been fired, according to Politico, citing anonymous sources—though Bloomberg reports some department staff who work on nuclear security were asked back, and the March 13 order from a federal judge requires the remainder to be reinstated.
U.S. Forest Service: More than 3,400 employees have been fired, two people familiar with the firings told Politico.
Small Business Administration: Some probationary employees at the agency received emails notifying them of their terminations, before another email said the initial notices were a mistake, only to be notified in a third email days later confirming their firings, Bloomberg reported in February, before Alsup in March ordered them to be reinstated.
Office of Personnel Management: Probationary employees at the office who did not take the Trump administration's buyout offer were let go in early February, a union official with the American Federation of Government Employees told NPR.
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau: The union that represents workers at the financial agency said about 73 of its members had been terminated, after the agency—which has drawn ire from Trump's tech allies—was ordered to stop all work, though union leaders and the Trump administration reached a deal in mid-February to prevent more agency employees from being terminated while litigation challenging the dismantling of the agency is pending.
National Nuclear Safety Administration: An employee at the agency—which oversees nuclear weapons in the U.S.—told NPR the agency would fire about 300 of the agency's 1,800 staff, though the Trump administration is now reportedly trying to rehire some of those employees.
General Services Administration: More than 100 people were affected by layoffs at the agency responsible for the federal government's real estate portfolio, three people familiar with the matter told Reuters.
Federal Aviation Administration: About 400 FAA were terminated in mid-February—just weeks after the fatal collision over the Potomac River that killed 67 people—with the layoffs including some in safety-specific roles, the Associated Press reported, though the Department of Transportation said roles that 'are critical to safety' were spared and the layoffs targeted probationary employees.
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The Trump administration ordered agency leaders in a Feb. 26 memo to submit plans for reducing their workforces by March 13, indicating the most sweeping layoffs are forthcoming.
The significant staff cuts across the federal government have been largely attributed to the Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency, as part of its broader mission to root out purported government waste. In a Cabinet meeting March 6, Trump reportedly told agency heads they ultimately have authority over firings, rather than Musk—a move that could help the Trump administration fight lawsuits over DOGE's authority. Trump suggested following the meeting that Musk would still have some control, however, telling reporters that if agency heads 'can cut, it's better, and if they don't cut, then Elon will do the cutting.' In court, the Trump administration has sought to distance Musk from the terminations, describing his role as 'advisory.'
It's not immediately clear how many staff have been affected by widespread layoffs across the Trump administration, which are separate from voluntary buyout deals offered to more than 2 million federal workers. Trump's administration has reportedly made a number of other high-profile terminations: At least 17 inspectors general, the chief financial officer at the Federal Emergency Management Agency plus three other FEMA workers, U.S. Coast Guard Commandant Linda Fagan, more than a dozen prosecutors who worked on cases against Trump, multiple senior FBI officials, the director of the Office of Government Ethics, and several high-ranking military officials, including Air Force Gen. Charles Q. Brown.
Mostly new employees who have been in the federal workforce for less than a year and are not afforded some job protections, including a right to appeal terminations. Probationary employees are the target of the Trump administration's layoffs, according to multiple reports. More than 200,000 federal workers are probationary employees.
The Trump administration separately offered all federal civilian workers pay with benefits through September if they choose to voluntarily resign, an offer 75,000 federal workers reportedly accepted. The administration has suggested employees who don't participate in the program could be subject to the mass terminations.
At least for many probationary employees, probably not, according to Alsup, who ordered the Trump administration in March to rescind firing directives at the heart of the probationary government employee layoffs for six government agencies. Meanwhile, the Trump administration is facing multiple lawsuits over some of the more high-profile firings. An appeals court ruled in March Trump had the authority to remove head of the Office of Special Counsel, Hampton Dellinger, while his case plays out in court, though Dellinger dropped his lawsuit after the ruling. Several labor unions have also sued the Trump administration over the mass firings, and eight inspectors general argued in a lawsuit filed in mid-February their terminations violated federal rules that require the executive branch to give Congress 30 days notice before firing them, plus a justification for the terminations. The administration is also facing lawsuits from former National Labor Relations Board Chair Gwynne Wilcox, who was fired by Trump on Jan. 27 and former Merit Systems Protection Board member Cathy Harris, who was fired Feb. 10—both were reinstated via court order.
Federal regulations of mass layoffs, known as 'reduction in force,' require the government to give 60 days advance notice of a layoff. The job must also be eliminated entirely—not an attempt to replace a worker, according to the Wall Street Journal. Employees who believe the administration broke protocol in terminating them can file complaints with the Merit Systems Protection Board. There are also protections in place for independent boards and commissions, such as the NLRB. Presidents can only fire members of the board for 'malfeasance' or 'neglect of duty,' according to the Wall Street Journal.
Trump is aiming for budget cuts between 30% and 40%, on average, across all government agencies, with staffing reductions serving as a major area for spending rollbacks, the Washington Post reported in mid-February, citing two anonymous sources. Many of the spending cuts are led by billionaire Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency.
Trump signed an executive order to reinstate a policy from his first term that reclassified tens of thousands of federal civilian employees to at-will employees, making it easier for him to fire them by ridding them of their job protections. Several unions, including the American Federation of Government Employees, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees and the National Treasury Employees Union have filed lawsuits to block Schedule F from taking effect. Schedule F is unrelated to the mass layoffs of probationary employees, but is widely viewed as another tool Trump can use to exert outsized power over the makeup of the federal workforce.
Some Republicans have spoken out about the widespread job cuts, with Musk's controversial email to federal employees asking them to detail five accomplishments sparking a new round of criticism. Multiple Republicans called for Musk to exercise more 'compassion' in his effort to reduce the federal workforce in the wake of the email. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, gave some of the sharpest criticism of her Republican colleagues, calling the email 'absurd' and likening the directive to 'intimidation,' while others have expressed concerns that Congress doesn't have enough information about DOGE's activities. Musk met with Republicans in March and reportedly attempted to downplay his role in the terminations, insisting they were at the discretion of agency leaders, CNN reported. The White House has also said repeatedly Musk is not in charge of DOGE and is instead a 'special government employee' who is not paid and acts in an advisory capacity.
UPDATE (March 6, 2025): This story's TSA section has been updated to include details from the Office of Personnel Management on probationary workers.
Correction: This article has been updated to reflect the Labor Department's reported layoff plans.
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