Well it seems like the Trump administration is tiptoeing around a court-ordered pause on axing jobs across agencies. Still trimming the workforce with the finesse of a caffeinated barber. The Housing and Urban Development Department (HUD) is back to firing probationary employees newbies or freshly promoted folks in a sneaky loophole of federal layoffs reduction-in-force (RIF) rules. Meanwhile, the Labor Department and National Science Foundation are slamming the brakes on their RIFs. All thanks to a temporary restraining order halting federal layoffs until at least May 23. HUD, unbothered, re-fired 312 probationers this week, after briefly bringing them back like a bad rom-com sequel. Only to send them packing again with notices vaguer than a fortune cookie. Why? A Trump executive order and Office of Personnel Management (OPM) guidance have turned federal layoffs into a free-for-all.

Probationary Purge: The Federal Layoffs Soap Opera

The federal layoffs drama escalated when the Office of Special Counsel dropped thousands of employee appeals, claiming no jurisdiction over this mass firing fiesta. This came after President Trump gave the agency’s head the boot, leaving federal layoffs policies wobbling like a Jenga tower. Now, agencies argue they can fire probationers for reasons as trivial as mismatched socks. The Labor Department paused RIFs in its Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs, and the National Science Foundation followed, probably muttering, “We’ll try again later.” As District Judge Susan Illston gears up for a hearing on a longer-term injunction, and Trump’s team appeals the restraining order, the federal layoffs circus keeps federal workers and contractors on edge, wondering if their jobs will vanish faster than free donuts at a staff meeting.