President Donald Trump issued an executive order Thursday to facilitate the removal of newly hired federal employees from their jobs.
The order, “Strengthening Probationary Periods in the Federal Service,” is the administration’s latest attempt to target new hires in the executive branch, following an early Trump administration push to remove probationary employees across the government that resulted in court battles.
Trump’s order mandates new procedures for federal probationary and trial employees to keep their jobs after the trial period ends. Among the new requirements is a directive that agency officials certify in writing that the continued employment of a probationary or trial employee will advance the public interest.
“Instead of these employees becoming tenured civil servants by default,” the order says, agencies must “affirmatively certify that finalizing their appointment after their probationary or trial period concludes advances the public interest.”
