Summary
Trump reversed his directive to fire thousands of probationary (newly-hired) federal employees after a judge ruled the mass terminations were likely illegal.
The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) clarified that agencies are not required to comply with previous instructions to fire employees who have held their jobs for a year or less. Instead, agencies have until September 13 to develop their own staffing reduction plans.
Some agencies, like the National Science Foundation (NSF), are now rehiring previously fired employees.
Federal labor unions have sued, arguing the firings violated procedural rules and congressional authority. The administration’s sudden reversal still leaves uncertainty about affected workers’ status.
So… funny story (well not funny, horrible).
So a friend of mine recently (within the past 3 years) was motivated to go back to school and get their degree in conservation biology. They had been a chef for a while and were sick of it. I pushed them to quit their job and get back into it, and they did.
They ended up getting an internship with a federal department, and are still technically a probationary employee (not career or term). They are still in school but the work was what they wanted to be doing, so they went for it.
So it turns out, almost all the career and term staff have now been let go. But they, as a probationary employee, are still there. Like somehow they were missed or forgotten. So now, somehow, they are in charge or at least responsible… for almost everything?
Its the smokey the bear meme about “only you; no seriously its just you now” in real life.
His last co-worker as they walked out the door:
Congrats to them on the meteoric career advancement, I guess? 😬
Clearly a surgical strike, just using medical knowledge from the paleolithic
Probably because he hasn’t tried to conserve anything yet. I hear Republicans hate that.