Mass layoffs begin at US federal agencies

Mass firings at multiple US government agencies have begun as President Donald Trump and Tesla CEO Elon Musk accelerate their purge of America's federal bureaucracy, union sources and employees familiar with the layoffs said on Thursday.

Termination emails have been sent in the past 48 hours to scores of government workers, mostly recently hired employees still on probation, at the Education Department, the Small Business Administration (SBA), the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), and the General Services Administration (GSA).

“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,” letters sent to at least 45 probationers at the SBA stated.

The firings come as Trump scored a major legal victory on Wednesday in his efforts to dismantle the federal bureaucracy, when a federal judge ruled that a buyout offer to government workers could proceed. About 75,000 workers have signed up for the buyout.