Many federal supervisors this week had just hours to send tweet-length justifications to save their employees’ jobs

Several federal agencies this week received an urgent task from administration officials: tell us why each of your recent hires should keep their jobs. 

In at least one case at the Energy Department, a supervisor was given 20 minutes to turn around the justifications. They were limited to 200 characters per employee, including spaces. 

The directive came from the Office of Personnel Management and follows the human resources agency asking every agency for lists of employees still on their probationary periods. Such workers—usually those hired within the last one or two years, depending on their hiring mechanism—can typically be fired quickly and without much recourse, sparking concerns the Trump administration is planning to dismiss them in droves. 

“People are pretty upset about it because they can see the writing on the wall,” said the Energy supervisor, who quickly told their team of the justifications they had to write. 

That supervisor was also included on the list, and now fears for their job. 

An OPM official said the directives were given to agencies that had not yet fully complied with their previous guidance, which it issued on President Trump’s first day in office. Similar instructions were given to the Internal Revenue Service and at least some other agencies with an equally tight deadline, according to a source familiar with the process. 

In its initial guidance, OPM directed agencies to “promptly determine” whether probationers “should be retained at the agency.” Employees at some agencies told Government Executive their supervisors had not received new guidance this week, instead initially telling OPM upon submitting their lists that all impacted staff in their divisions should be retained.  

Some agencies have already sent warning notices to impacted staff notifying them of their probationary status and, in some cases, reminding them that they can easily be fired. The administration is also ratcheting up its effort to encourage employees to accept its deferred resignation offers, which expire Thursday. 

Government Executive previously reported that employees and supervisors at some agencies were tasked with explaining their backgrounds and justifying their roles, but the latest directive from OPM marks a new, more uniform approach to gathering that information. The Energy supervisor said the 200-character limit forced their team to write simple descriptions that offered few details on job duties. 

Agencies received the directive to produce the justifications on Tuesday and were due back to OPM on Wednesday, leading to the tight turnaround time at Energy. Earlier that morning, top-level managers in the department had told employees they had no knowledge of any requests or plans related to the lists of probationers. 

Exactly who agencies are including on their lists has varied. Employees at several agencies throughout government have told Government Executive they have been added to the probationary period inventory even though they had served for more than a decade in government. They had recently started new roles and were therefore added to the probationary lists, they said.

The sweeping nature of the request indicates the Trump administration is not narrowly focusing on probationary employees in certain jobs but instead looking to take widespread actions. OPM’s latest directive was first reported by Federal News Network. Energy did not respond to multiple requests for comment. 

For now, impacted employees are continuing to do their jobs—though focusing on their duties has proven to be a difficult task amid all the tumult. 

“People are terrified,” the Energy supervisor said. “People are really, really scared.”  

A Justice Department employee said they did not expect to make it past this weekend. 

“I’m assuming I’ll be let go,” the employee said.