By David Shepardson
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The White House told federal agencies to detail by Friday a list of federal employees who are on probationary status and make recommendations on whether they should remain on the job.
President Donald Trump has vowed to reform the federal workforce and sharply reduce regulatory efforts. On Monday he ordered federal workers to return to the office five days a week and weakened job protections for civil servants, the first salvoes in his campaign to shrink the federal bureaucracy.
“Probationary periods are essential tools for agencies to assess employee performance and staffing levels,” said a memo from White House Office of Personnel Management Acting Director Charles Ezell seen by Reuters. The memo asks to see a list of those employees, adding that “agencies should promptly determine whether those employees should be retained at the agency.”
The memo noted that employees with one to two years of federal service — depending on their status — can be terminated without appeal rights.
The White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
In a separate memo, the White House told government agencies to rescind most job offers for people who are not starting work until after Feb. 8 as part of a hiring freeze. The order also directed federal agencies to remove most jobs from a government jobs board and says with limited exceptions no new jobs can be created.
“Any recruiters seeking to fill positions on behalf of the government must cease correspondence with candidates no later than January 21,” the memo dated Monday said.
The memo states that jobs related to immigration enforcement, national security and public safety are exempted from the hiring freeze as is the military and U.S. Postal Service.
OPM said it may grant additional exemptions for “critically important situations” such as ensuring Social Security, Medicare and veterans’ benefits. Agencies on a monthly basis submit to OPM a report on jobs offered and accepted, employees who resigned, total jobs listed on government websites and total employee headcount.
