The Trump administration’s attempts to drastically and rapidly reduce the federal workforce have led to internal chaos with some workers being informed they were mistakenly sent a termination email only to be then told they were actually fired.
First-year employees, known as probationary staff, at the Small Business Administration were told Monday that they were accidentally sent “draft” termination letters and assured the workers they were not fired. But then, on Tuesday, they were informed they were terminated, according to Bloomberg.
“During this probationary or trial period, it has been determined that your continued employment does not promote the efficiency of the service because you have failed to demonstrate fitness for continued federal employment,” the email, seen by Bloomberg, said on Tuesday – matching wording to the “draft” they were sent.
The mass layoffs have been sparked by Elon Musk, billionaire and chair of the Department of Government Efficiency, who is seeking to cut federal spending and get rid of “fraud” within the government.
White House officials are said to be eyeing budget cuts between 30 and 40 percent – with staffing reductions leading the effort, the Washington Post reported.
DOGE has recently taken over key departments, such as the Office of Personnel Management, which acts as a human resource for federal workers, and begun making massive cuts across agencies and departments, reportedly without informing key career officials.
The legality of those cuts is unclear as many federal workers are represented by unions and require collective bargaining.
That’s in combination with a massive buyout effort, also spearheaded by DOGE, which was paused and then unpaused by a federal judge. Already the buyouts had raised eyebrows as some lawyers, state attorney generals and lawmakers warned federal employees it could not be guaranteed.
But due to the speed at which Musk and President Donald Trump seek to remake the government, it appears disorganization has become a defining trait of the overhaul.
The quick effort to dismantle the U.S. Agency for International Development earlier this month occurred in such a rush that one fired staffer had to be rehired in order to process the time sheets of other employees, the Wall Street Journal reported.
