LAST UPDATE | 4 Mar

US PRESIDENT DONALD Trump’s administration has appeared to walk back an order that called for the mass firing of thousands of civil servants still serving their probationary periods.

The updated guidance comes days after a federal judge in California ruled that the January 20 directive from the US government’s Office of Personnel Management (OPM) was “unlawful” and ordered it to be temporarily rescinded.

Thousands of employees still in their probationary period – meaning they were hired or promoted within the past one to two years – have already been dismissed as part of efforts by the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), led by billionaire Elon Musk, to shrink the US federal workforce.

The revision said that state agencies “have ultimate decision-making authority” over staff.

“Please note that, by this memorandum, OPM is not directing agencies to take any specific performance-based actions regarding probationary employees. Agencies have ultimate decision-making authority over, and responsibility for, such personnel actions,” the agency’s updated guidance said.

The memo adds that agencies now have until September 13 to devise their own proposals for implementing workforce reductions.

Responding to a case brought by employees at six government agencies, Judge Willi Judge William Alsup ruled last week that the directive was “unlawful, invalid, and must be stopped and rescinded.”

The next hearing in the case is scheduled for March 13.

“OPM’s revision of its Jan. 20 memo is a clear admission that it unlawfully directed federal agencies to carry out mass terminations of probationary employees,” According to one trade union, the updated guidance was a “clear admission” that the OPM had “unlawfully directed federal agencies to carry out mass terminations of probationary employees”.

“Every agency should immediately rescind these unlawful terminations and reinstate everyone who was illegally fired,” American Federation of Government Employees National President Everett Kelley said in a statement.

Many of those dismissed were told they were being let go due to an alleged inability to fulfill their duties, despite having received exemplary performance reviews.

– © AFP2025