XPost: alt.government.employees, alt.politics.trump, alt.fan.rush-limbaugh   
   XPost: talk.politics.guns, sac.politics   
   From: abank@yahoo.com   
      
   The Trump administration moved swiftly to lay off thousands of government   
   employees in at least seven agencies Thursday, initiating a new and more   
   aggressive phase of its push to shrink the federal workforce.   
      
   Officials would not say how many layoff notices they plan to send, but   
   acknowledged they expect to go well beyond the 77,000 employees who have   
   already accepted offers to leave. The voluntary resignation program —   
   ended after a judge’s ruling Wednesday — culled 3 percent of the   
   workforce, well short of the administration’s 10 percent goal.   
      
   “This is not a mission to reach a quota, this is a mission to streamline   
   the government,” said a White House official granted anonymity to discuss   
   the thinking behind the administration’s actions.   
      
   The Department of Energy plans to lay off most or all of its estimated   
   2,000 probationary employees Thursday. Over the past 48 hours, at least   
   six other agencies — the Education Department, the Office of Personnel   
   Management, the Department of Veterans Affairs, Small Business   
   Administration, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the General   
   Services Administration initiated layoffs.   
      
   Also on Thursday, Elon Musk and his team at the Department of Government   
   Efficiency started to zero in on the Department of Housing and Urban   
   Development, reviewing the agency’s budget and workforce structure for   
   potential cuts, according to another person familiar with Musk’s   
   involvement granted anonymity to speak freely.   
      
   The government-wide layoffs have primarily targeted employees who were   
   recently hired or promoted and in a one- to two-year probationary status   
   that allows employers to fire without a cause, depending on the agency.   
      
   The layoffs are expected to intensify in the coming days and weeks,   
   according to officials in the White House and across agencies, as   
   additional agencies finalize workforce reduction plans.   
      
   The Small Business Administration terminated about 720 employees — roughly   
   20 percent of its permanent workforce, according to a person familiar with   
   the agency, who was granted anonymity to discuss sensitive personnel   
   matters. The Department of Education on Wednesday fired at least 60   
   probationary employees and has begun distributing termination notices to   
   workers in the offices for civil rights, federal student aid and   
   communications, as well as its legal department.   
      
   Erie Meyer, former chief technologist at CFPB from 2021 until earlier this   
   year, told POLITICO on Thursday that “they just fired every single   
   technologist investigating Big Tech” at the agency.   
      
   The VA announced late Thursday the dismissal of more than 1,000 employees.   
      
   “This was a tough decision, but ultimately it’s the right call to better   
   support the Veterans, families, caregivers, and survivors the department   
   exists to serve,” VA Secretary Doug Collins said in a statement.   
      
   Even OPM, the agency responsible for managing the federal workforce, was   
   not spared. An unknown number of OPM employees who were on probationary   
   status were fired Thursday, according to one person who works at the   
   agency and another at the union that covers the agency’s employees.   
   Supervisors got no notice before the sudden dismissals, one of the people   
   said.   
      
   These direct firings mark a significant escalation from the initial   
   voluntary resignation phase, which Trump administration officials   
   previously framed as a way to pare down the government without forced   
   removals. The window to accept the buyout while remaining on the payroll   
   through September closed Wednesday evening.   
      
   President Donald Trump on Tuesday signed an executive order directing   
   agencies to work with DOGE to make “preparations to initiate large-scale   
   reductions in force,” limiting agencies to hiring no more than one   
   employee for every four employees that depart.   
      
   The threat of sudden layoffs has become an all-consuming stressor for   
   career officials across the government, several employees granted   
   anonymity to speak freely told POLITICO. Many of those still in their   
   “probationary” period are working under the assumption they will be axed   
   at any moment, with rumors running rampant through a workforce where   
   officials described obsessively refreshing news sites and trading for   
   morsels of gossip in hopes of finding some measure of certainty about   
   their job status.   
      
   On Thursday, the health department was consumed by fears that newly sworn-   
   in Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. would soon begin demanding resignations   
   and cutting swathes of employees across agencies including the National   
   Institutes of Health, Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease   
   Control and Prevention.   
      
   Ahead of his installation, officials at NIH and other agencies began   
   getting word-of-mouth warnings that massive cuts could begin within the   
   next several days. Yet as of Thursday evening, the employees said, there   
   had been no confirmation of any actions from Kennedy, who previously   
   suggested he would seek to fire hundreds of scientists from the NIH.   
      
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   As the firings ramp up, the administration is also rolling out   
   surveillance measures for the workers who remain, according to a person   
   granted anonymity to speak freely about internal agency matters. The scope   
   of the additional monitoring is unclear but the new measures are raising   
   concerns among federal employees that they could be used to justify   
   further firings.   
      
   At the SBA, the administration installed new employee monitoring software   
   designed to track keystrokes and remotely activate computer cameras and   
   microphones, according to the same person familiar with the agency.   
      
   The software is similar to surveillance tools deployed at the General   
   Services Administration, where some employees were told that their work   
   will be closely monitored, including when they logged in and out of their   
   devices and when they swipe in and out of workplaces. A “keylogger”   
   software that would also track everything the employees typed would be   
   installed on their work machines, NPR reported.   
      
   The Pentagon has a national security carve-out that allows it to avoid   
   cutting its civilian workforce. But civilian employees were eligible for   
   the buyout offer. And many were already anxious about cuts after the   
   election, leading to a spike in activity in national security job boards   
   in recent months, said Anthony Niles, co-founder of JOBSwithDOD, a private   
   sector defense industry job board that’s helping match officials with new   
   jobs outside of government.   
      
   “What we’re seeing is kind of a trend line of people with more   
   sophisticated skills or advanced experiences taking the buyout,” said   
   Niles, whose website posts roles ranging from the blue collar defense jobs   
   to executive roles at startups. “We’re seeing a very strong influx of   
   people going to our site and looking for opportunities.”   
      
      
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