Trump admin lays out roles of ‘probationary employees’ as Dems claim critical employees are being cut

FIRST ON FOX: The Trump administration outlined the roles of probationary employees amid Democrats and some media outlets portraying recent mass firings of federal employees as a gutting of staffers critical to the infrastructure of the government. 

“Probationary employees are, by definition, subject to removal if their position is deemed not mission-critical to the executive branch, which is led by and reports to the president,” a Trump administration official told Fox News Digital. 

“The legacy media is missing the point: President Trump was elected with a resounding mandate to cut wasteful spending for American families — not to bankroll bureaucrats indefinitely on the taxpayer’s dime,” the official said.

Democratic lawmakers, as well as media outlets, have described the recent cuts as the Trump administration wiping out agencies of critical employees focused on issues such as American safety or health. 

“I’m thankful that everyone in the flight incident in Toronto that took off from Minneapolis is safe, but we keep seeing these incidents day after day,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer claimed on X after a Delta flight crashed and flipped upside down Monday. “Meanwhile, Trump’s doing massive layoffs at the FAA — including safety specialists — and making our skies less and less safe.” 

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Protest on Feb. 19 on the firings of thousands of federal workers by U.S. President Donald Trump.  (Getty Images)

The crashed flight in Canada, which resulted in no deaths, unfolded as news broke that the Trump administration had culled hundreds of probationary employees at the Federal Aviation Association (FAA), which became a focal point of many media reports that linked the crash to the Trump cuts. 

Media outlets stretching from the Associated Press to local papers and British outlets also revisited January’s deadly Washington, D.C., crash while reporting on the FAA cuts. The D.C. crash left 67 people dead when an Army helicopter and passenger flight collided near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, marking the deadliest U.S. plane crash since 2001. 

Fox News Digital spoke to an administration official who explained the Office of Personnel Management’s policies on probationary employees and the independent agency’s mission to ensure “federal workforce is composed of qualified, high-performing individuals who support the mission of federal agencies.” 

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is an independent agency that works as the federal government’s human resources department, including providing policy, oversight and benefits for federal employees. 

A federal employee’s probationary period is considered part of the job application process, and does not serve as an entitlement for permanent employment, the administration official said. Under OPM guidance, a person’s employment is not final until the probationary period concludes, with the onus on the workers to demonstrate their qualifications to achieve permanent employment. 

The probationary period allows agency leaders to fully assess the performance of a worker and determine if they are fit for permanent roles. The agencies are then tasked with prioritizing the hiring of probationary employees who exemplify the highest standards, retaining them for mission-critical roles. 

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Separation of a probationary employee from the agency, on the flip side, should be done as soon as possible while also in accordance with agency policies and collective bargaining agreements, the administration official explained. Agencies are tasked with simultaneously aligning performance evaluations with both organizational goals and the current workforce reduction directive under the Trump administration. 

Agency leaders are required to send reports to OPM regrading retained or terminated probationary employees, including providing probation end dates and details on deferred resignation agreements, and justifications as to why a probationary employee was retained. 

As probationary employees face terminations amid the Trump administration’s efforts to align the federal government with the president’s “Make America Great Again” agenda, which includes cutting government fat and stamping out fraud and mismanagement. Democrats and government employees have repeatedly staged protests against the cuts or spoken out about them in media interviews and on social media. Lawsuits, including class action suits, have also increasingly mounted amid the Trump administration’s terminations. 

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The Trump administration official stressed that OPM is focused on ensuring only the most qualified workers are hired for permanent employment within the federal government.  (Jon Elswick/The Associated Press)

Georgia Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff claimed on the Senate floor Friday as the Department of Health and Human Services faced cuts within its agencies, such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “President Trump’s indefensible, indiscriminate firing of more than 1,000 CDC personnel in a single day leaves Americans exposed to disease and devastates careers and livelihoods for the world’s most talented doctors and scientists, many of them here in Georgia.” 

Meanwhile, the former head of the Food and Drug Administration’s food division, Jim Jones, submitted his resignation Monday in a letter that claimed the administration was conducting “indiscriminate firing” of employees. 

Demonstrators hold signs in support of federal workers during a President’s Day protest near the Capitol in Washington, D.C. Feb. 17, 2025.  (Getty Images)

The Trump administration official stressed in comments to Fox Digital that OPM is focused on ensuring only the most qualified workers are hired for permanent employment within the federal government. 

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“OPM’s approach is rooted in ensuring the federal workforce is composed of qualified, high-performing individuals who support the mission of federal agencies,” the official said. “The focus on performance during the probationary period aligns with broader efforts to increase government efficiency and accountability.”