I’m pretty sure that no one cares what I think, but it’s likely that someone cares what some of you think. So maybe some of you can reach out to someone who can influence things.
I’d like to start with this story from last October.
In September, the agency announced that it would be suspending all seasonal hiring for the 2025 season, a decision that will cut about 2,400 jobs. Nearly all of those positions are field-based jobs, ranging from biologists and timber workers to trail technicians and recreation staff. In addition, the agency is freezing all external hiring for permanent positions. The only exception to the hiring freeze are the roughly 11,300 firefighters hired by the agency every year.
That was 2400 temporaries who do much of the on-the-ground work.
Someone sent me this
Forest Service employees, too, work mainly in the field. A lobbyist for a forest policy group who works closely with the agency — and was granted anonymity to speak openly — said the agency is in danger of becoming even more top-heavy in staffing, a frequent complaint in some circles.
It’s a double Administration whammy for the Forest Service. First the D Admin takes the temps, then the R Admin takes the probationary permanents (both with exceptions for fire).
That would be my rationale for the Admin to take a second look at the Forest Service (assuming that the reporting in my last post -that OPM didn’t tell them to do this in the first place- is not correct).
If this Fed Exec reporting is true:
On Tuesday evening, however, OPM convened a call with federal agencies’ general counsels and instructed them not to pursue widespread firings of probationary period workers. Instead, OPM said, they should terminate only such workers that they have deemed poor performers. The call was first reported by CBS News.
Then there’s this piece in the Federal News Network:
The Office of Personnel Management is advising all federal agencies to fire their probationary employees after it stopped accepting new offers for its “deferred resignation” program last night.
Agencies, however, have final authority over the removal of their probationary employees.
A source familiar with OPM’s decision-making told Federal News Network that OPM met with agencies and provided them with guidance to fire probationary employees, with “case-by-case exceptions,” including as public safety.
The source described OPM’s communication to agencies as “soft guidance,” and that “agencies independently can decide how to move forward.”
Even if both sources of reporting are incorrect, and OPM did tell them to go after all probationary employees, how about some tweaks for the twice-beleaguered Forest Service, now that the Secretary of Agriculture has been confirmed.
How about.. making exceptions for employees on Ranger Districts? (this would not be particularly fair, but would leave Districts intact)
How about.. making exceptions for Veterans? I didn’t realize it, but Veterans have a probationary period when they enter civilian agencies. This might be an attractive option for Veterans who are serving in this Administration and Congress.
Meanwhile, MSN had this for the Park Service.
The National Park Service plans to fire roughly 1,000 probationary employees who have worked at the agency less than one year, according to three people familiar with the matter, while reinstating around 5,000 seasonal job offers that were rescinded last month due to President Donald Trump’s federal hiring freeze.
The two moves underscore the confusing — and at times contradictory — nature of the new administration’s efforts to shrink the federal workforce. The individuals briefed on these plans spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment publicly.
I was unable to find anything specifically about BLM employees.
For what it’s worth….the D Administration did not take the FS temporaries. The FS “lost” the temporaries because of its own hiring frenzy, one undertaken without a clear plan and without an eye on the budget. The FS chose (strategically, maybe) to use a hope-based strategy, hiring as many new employees as it could to increase capacity. And it did so with a hope that they could afford to pay those employees for the long term. Yes, the new R administration is having profound effects on the federal workforce. But let’s not incorrectly place the blame on the loss of the temporaries on anyone other the FS leadership that chose a wanton hiring effort.
This is a very accurate statement. It was painful to watch Randy Moore take absolutely no accountability for this leadership by hope strategy. He gambled on the election and lost big time. Everyone in the field was told to fill positions and ask questions later. DEI took precedence over any merit. Shame on the utterly failed top leadership of what was once a well run agency. Trump will now ensure the big green machine is dismantled.
It’s all departments, all agencies, all probationary employees.
My FS region was forced to fire 371 employees yesterday and we had no say in it.
https://www.govexec.com/workforce/2025/02/see-which-federal-agencies-are-firing-new-hires/403033/
The Hotshot Wakeup today has a letter from an anonymous USFS “manager” that includes this paragraph:
The language on the termination letter being issued to these employees states, “The Agency finds that you are not fit for continued employment because your ability, knowledge and skills do not fit the current needs, and your performance has not been adequate to justify further employment with the Agency,” https://tinyurl.com/bdefbr7c
Could a lawsuit over the “your performance has not been adequate” bit have a chance of success? Wrongful termination?
See the last case in the litigation summary.
If ever there has been a case of wrongful termination, this is it. The boilerplate reason used for termination is untrue and a needless impediment to the employees’ chance of achieving employment elsewhere. The thoughtlessness of OPM in constructing this document is shameful.
I know a Natural Resources Conservation Service employee, who was in her probationary period (hired June 2024), who was terminated Friday morning 2/14 in Maine.
She graduated top of her class in 2024 so I doubt there were any performance issues to justify her termination. She was the president of the organization comprised of the top female students in her university.
Well, it’s puzzling, if OPM told the agencies to only fire probationary employees with poor performance (as reported) why didn’t the agencies do that?
Sharon, I know first hand not all “prob’s” were let go. There were holds on particular non-fire positions. Not many, but some…..
It makes me really wonder, “what’s the plan?” I think there must be but dang if I can figure it out….
You really think OPM is driving this?
Further, more importantly, these cost cutting acts will save pennies of pennies on the dollar of larger targets for federal expenses. While the costs are even greater.
Enjoy: https://www.reddit.com/r/fednews/comments/1iozypr/megathread_mass_firing_of_probationary_employees/?share_id=t3UFEaLetzg5nK-C8rHtZ&utm_content=2&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_source=share&utm_term=1
Things are changing fast and happening without much thought or foresight. It’s hard for reporting to keep up – as my son says – he is tired of reading the daily news and always being at least a day behind on where things are in this administration. The chaos and changes make it hard for folks to keep up. There are other things I have seen that have said that OPM altered their advice beyond what you have seen reported. Long-time OPM employees share that they are not calling the shots and they don’t know who is.
The “alt-gov” accounts on BlueSky are mostly current agency employees reporting from inside their agencies…unfortunately there is no alt-FS account, but there is an alt-DOI account.
The “Breaking News LIVE” account on BlueSky also shared today that federal employee numbers grew by 6.3% under the Biden Administration, primarily due to BIL and IRA. And the Trump Administration is aiming for a 5-10% reduction.
An Executive Order was also signed earlier this week(?) for agencies to submit RIF plans within 30 days to pare down their organizations to those employees deemed as “essential” in their government shutdown plans.
While it is too late for the FS probationary employees, the RIF plan direction is even more dire and is probably where efforts should be focused.
Current OMB Director Russel Vought’s own words: “We want the bureaucrats to be traumatically affected.” “When they wake up in the morning, we want them to not want to go to work, because they are increasingly viewed as the villains. We want their funding to be shut down … We want to put them in trauma.”
Time to wake up folks.
“now that the Secretary of Agriculture has been confirmed.” But she works for Musk, and the rules (like can only be fired “for cause”) don’t seem to apply to him. I’d suspect the person from OPM who let this memo out is now retired. (One area I hope they are staffing up on is those who review the appeals of dismissed employees.)
I just got my Termination letter today… PSE with top performance reviews.. Several folk with 10 + years of PSE were let go on our district… How are we supposed to take care of our forest visitors with only 3 employees in Recreation? !!! Looks like Region 6 is kissing up…
Hello, I’m sad to hear you were terminated; especially from Recreation! We know the public will be impacted by these crazy, shortsighted decisions.
I can empathize with your situation because I was RIFfed, from a recreation program manager job, in 1986 when the Timber Buyout, engineered by then Senator Hatfield, slashed the budget in Region 6. The silver lining was that I found other good things to do and left the USFS behind.
It’s awful how the current “administration” (it isn’t really administering anything) is vilifying you and other federal employees! My experience, in a number of agencies is that folks care about their work and want to do the best they can for the public. The current hate was not part of the equation in the 1980’s and should NOT be now either.
I have a friend who was terminated Friday by Natural Resources Conservation Service; She worked with farmers, in Maine, on sustainable agriculture programs. I know her performance review was excellent. Many rural communities are going to be adversely affected by what Trump is doing.
>>>. Another sad aspect is that these terminations are robbing each agency of talent; that will have long term consequences! It’s a bit like sending a generation off to war, suffering many casualties and then depriving our society of the ideas and talents of the people who were lost.
Extremely short sighted!
I appreciate the work you did for the American people and the Forest you worked on.
THANK YOU Sepha!
May you land on your feet and come out of this bad experience in a better position!
Good wishes 🙂
Here is a comment to a friend just leaving the FS:
“Well, I was sure wrong about the scale of retribution imposed by this Administration! Surprised? Nope – just scale; during Trump 45, there was a massive (it seems) uprising of “resist” and crowing about employees not going to do this or that. The worst offenders were land management Agencies, but there were bad actors in many Departments. I was “asked to leave” several discussion groups because I thought disparaging a sitting President, while drawing a federal paycheck,was just wrong, and made my opinion known. There were others, from differing backgrounds and functions that felt the same way as I; they were also asked to leave!
Covid shutdowns hurt, DEI and a very unpopular President, didn’t help the mindset of the American public, neither. The problem, as always, most of the “bad actors” will still be around when the dust settles. The most vulnerable (probationers), and those who are ready to be done with this mess (buyouts/retirees) will see a new sunrise tomorrow, and this whole experience will fade from memory.”
As for now, this President has a very long memory and his focus on his campaign promises are driving these actions! The American voters – so far, are supporting these moves, and those who do not are literally left in the dark – singing and cursing Elon Musk….. Go figure…….
Hmm. I think about time wasted complaining about the Prez, in addition to its appropriateness.
On Monday afternoon November 7, 2016, the present Forest Service staff of the National Office was mandatorily summoned to the Jefferson Auditorium. Addressing the assembled were Chief Tidwell, Under Secretary Robert Bonnie and Legislative Affairs Director Doug Crandall. The purpose of the assembly was to calm the workforce, upset about an apparent Trump victory.
Trump was elected on November 8th.
On November 9th at work some colleagues on my staff showed signs of facial injuries from participating in the riots that plagued the District on the night of November 8th.
Chief Tidwell held an optional all employee meeting in the Yates Building Conference Room on the afternoon of November 9th. At that meeting a colleague stood up and demanded that the Chief oppose Trump, citing the Yates Building proximity to the Holocaust Museum of North America and disparaging Trump as a Nazi. To say the least, the chief was flummoxed. This same guy channeling Woody Guthrie would bring his special chili to employee potlucks with the admonition that this chili kills fascists!
Then came the “pink pussy” hats worn conspicuously in the Yates Building.
To me this was surprising, a Forest Service professional since the Carter Administration, I had seen administrations come and go. But we were a professional workforce and could serve any administration, even if that wasn’t our guy.
Nearly 8-years before that the GW Bush Administration ended and President Obama was inaugurated. There was much rejoicing in the Yates Building and many of us attended the Obama celebration at the Lincoln Memorial “We are One” on Sunday as well as the Inauguration on Tuesday. Obama was not my guy, but he was the elected President and deserved my respect.
I moved to SW Colorado after retirement in April of 2017. At the local national forest supervisor’s office (SO), the parking lot was full of vehicles with resist bumper stickers. Again, partisan and not professional.
At one point in 2018, my truck was parked in the SO parking lot. My truck was adorned with the following stickers: a Gadsden flag; NRA sticker, a Steal Your Face Sticker (Grateful Dead) and an American Flag sticker. A friend told me that an employee reported my truck to the forest LEO, who attempted to run my vehicle tags, but was stopped by probable cause issues. Yet, the vehicles with resist stickers were not investigated.
The swiftness and harshness of the second Trump Administration in jarring the Federal workforce has been a rude awakening for a partisan executive branch. Perhaps becoming more professional and less partisan will be the result of this transition.
Joe Reddan, that’s exactly my point of contention with how far the FS slipped into partisanship! I never, ever allowed political influences, nor promotion of one party over another. As a Forest Sup, it was harder to manage the zero tolerance because of the shear number of employees on these larger Units, but by dang there was no question in the employees on what was tolerated.
Before I retired in early 2017, I had relocated to the Regional Office, with a very talented and dedicated group of employees. I might add – professional, these types of disrespect were never seen! However, I saw the rapid decline in discipline and professionalism, magnified by the advent of social media and the ever present Internet. I still never uttered a political word until I exited that door for the last time. I didn’t even know what the difference in liberals and conservatives were; but man did I educate myself!
Long story short, you are spot on in your assessment!
Thanks Jim!
We served in the same era with similar professionalism.
That is why I specifically responded to your comment post
Instead of “complaining”, do you expect federal employees who have been fired should state their gratitude? I find it humorous that MAGA truly believes that criticism and acts of resistance against a sitting POTUS are limited to only Trump.
The 2/15 Hotshot Wake Up has the most comprehensive explanation of what’s going on with “the purge” as anywhere/thing I’ve heard! It’s almost an hour, but quality information. The surprise is, this is no surprise! Listen and find out!
And here’s a form letter the USFS employees union is encouraging folks to send to their reps. https://actionnetwork.org/letters/tell-congress-to-stop-the-illegal-attacks-on-americas-workforce?source=direct_link&