The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) issued new guidance Tuesday, telling federal agencies they hold the reins on terminating probationary employees, just days after a judge paused a wave of firings that could affect up to 30,000 workers.
The shift follows a chaotic month of mass dismissals that unions and workers say have thrown government operations into disarray, sparking stress and uncertainty across agencies.
The saga kicked into high gear last week when U.S. District Judge William Alsup halted the terminations, ruling they might be illegal.
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The decision came in response to a lawsuit led by the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), alongside other unions and advocacy groups, claiming OPM lacked authority to order the firings—a power grab they argued violated federal law.
The suit pointed to a January 20 memo and a February 13 email from OPM, which allegedly directed agencies to pinpoint and axe probationary workers, complete with a template termination notice.
In an email to agency HR officers Tuesday, obtained by Axios, OPM acknowledged the litigation and linked to an updated memo. A new paragraph clarifies: “OPM is not directing agencies to take any specific performance-based actions regarding probationary employees.”
It adds that “agencies have ultimate decision-making authority” over such moves—seemingly walking back earlier directives. Yet the guidance sidesteps a burning question: what happens to the thousands already fired, many clinging to hopes of reinstatement?
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The firings, dubbed the “Valentine’s Day massacre” after kicking off February 14, have hit hard—disrupting agency work from veterans’ services to nuclear safety, per AFGE. Judge Alsup ordered OPM to rescind its January and February instructions, rejecting the agency’s courtroom insistence it never mandated the cuts.
That claim jars with prior reports from Government Executive, citing evidence like an OPM call pushing terminations and agency letters blaming “performance” despite glowing reviews for some workers.
“OPM’s revision of its Jan. 20 memo is a clear admission that it unlawfully directed federal agencies to carry out mass terminations,” AFGE President Everett Kelley said in a statement. “Every agency should immediately rescind these unlawful terminations and reinstate everyone who was illegally fired.”
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For the ousted—estimated at 25,000-30,000 by unions—the silence on their fate stings, with no word yet on recalls despite the judge’s rebuke.
The about-face lands amid broader Trump administration efforts to shrink the federal workforce, from early retirement offers to agency closures. As OPM pivots to agency discretion, the fallout remains murky—workers wait, agencies scramble, and the courts loom large over a policy shift that’s shaken the civil service to its core.
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