Summarize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs
President Donald Trump’s administration has fired around 200,000 federal employees across at least seven agencies including the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of Education.
The layoffs include between 1,200 and 2,000 employees at the Department of Energy (DOE), including staff from the nuclear security administration and the loans office, two sources familiar with the decision told Reuters.
Democratic lawmakers confirmed to the outlet that the layoffs also impact workers at national laboratories, hydroelectric plants and Cold War-era nuclear sites.
The Office of Personnel Management (OPM), which serves as the human resources department for the federal government, gave the order to lay off probationary workers, who have not gained the protections that many other federal workers have, the AP reported.
The Department of Veterans affairs announced on Thursday that it had dismissed more than 1,000 employees, including probationary employees who had worked at the agency for less than two years.
Employees at other agencies, including the Department of Education and the Small Business Administration, also reportedly received termination notices.
The layoffs also extended to OPM: Dozens of probationary workers were told they were being dismissed on a Thursday afternoon group call, the AP reported, citing an unnamed source who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
The terminations came a day after a judge allowed the Trump administration to proceed with a deferred resignation program that encouraged employees to resign and be paid through September.
Follow Newsweek’s live blog for the latest updates.
