Federal agencies are facing a deadline on Monday to present their plans for another round of mass firings, the next step in the Trump administration’s drive to shrink the government that figures to further reshape a civil service that has endured tens of thousands of departures.
Some agencies, such as the Department of Health and Human Services, have already announced their layoffs for this round of dismissals, which follows the terminations in February of thousands of probationary federal employees. The cuts have come at the direction of the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, the government overhaul initiative led by the tech billionaire Elon Musk.
The group’s hard-charging effort has cast a pall over the federal work force since Mr. Trump returned to the Oval Office. This week’s plans for the mass firings, called “reductions in force,” should offer a clearer picture of the administration’s vision of a downsized federal government.
Thousands of workers have also resigned voluntarily in recent days, accepting an offer to quit while temporarily being paid — including more than 1,100 people at the National Park Service, according to a person familiar with the details. The incentive applied only in certain departments as Monday’s deadline neared, and was originally pitched in January as a one-time offer.
The Times has interviewed dozens of federal workers who have been fired or expect to be, as well as those who have watched co-workers disappear without any guidance on who would do their work. All spoke on the condition of anonymity out of fear of retribution.
Since Jan. 20, agency supervisors and managers have largely been left in the dark about the personnel changes. Many have come to rely on the news media to learn about their job security, a scientist with the Environmental Protection Agency said. And scant information about the resignation and early retirement offers has left federal workers to seek advice on social media about whether to accept.
On April 7, the Department of Homeland Security sent an email announcing that it would also be offering another shot at deferred resignation and early retirement. The message said that human resources officials would follow up with more details. But one official said that never happened, giving him just 48 hours to give the department his decision.
The thousands of fired probationary workers have been in a state of limbo since mid-February, with court rulings that forced the government to reinstate the employees that have since been overturned or paused. Some fired workers who returned to their jobs this month have not been able to get a clear answer from their human resources officials about whether they were even eligible for a deferred resignation or if their employment status had changed.
The Department of Health and Human Services rolled out its layoffs on April 1 in an early morning email. Some employees learned they were fired when they got to the office and their building badges were no longer working. In total, the department laid off about 10,000 employees, in some cases eliminating entire departments and programs. The department did not give people the option of deferred resignations.
Many fired workers from the department have said that the information about their service at the agency was inaccurate in the documents they received when they were laid off.
The process for a reduction in force comes with specific steps that agencies must follow. As with other personnel actions, workers laid off in reductions of force must bring their challenges to the Merit System Protections Board, an independent administrative board that reviews employment decisions.
The board is receiving exponentially more cases than it has in previous years. But President Trump fired the head of the panel, Cathy A. Harris, leaving it without a quorum. Newly fired workers may have to wait years for the board to hear their appeals while Ms. Harris challenges her firing.
