U.S. Office of Personnel Management Walks Back Orders to Fire Federal Employees After Court Ruling
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First reported by The Hill, following mass layoffs that swept regulatory agencies, including those responsible for food safety and foodborne illness response, the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has walked back its orders to fire probationary employees at federal agencies.
On January 20, 2025, OPM issued a memo to the heads of federal departments and agencies directing them to identify probationary employees (personnel who had not yet qualified for civil service protections) and reconsider their continued employment, resulting in thousands of layoffs across the government, not excluding those responsible for food safety oversight and foodborne illness response, such as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC). “Agencies should identify all employees on probationary periods, and send a report to OPM listing all such employees… In addition, agencies should promptly determine whether those employees should be retained at the agency,” the memo originally said.
On March 4, OPM revised the memo to read, “Please note that, by this memorandum, OPM is not directing agencies to take any specific performance-based actions regarding probationary employees. Agencies have ultimate decision-making authority over, and responsibility for, such personnel actions.”
The change was prompted by a court decision made by Judge William Alsup of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, who determined that sweeping dismissals of federal probationary employees across the government were not legal because OPM did not have authority to mandate the firings. Judge Alsup granted a temporary restraining order against OPM, and mandated OPM to immediately notify federal agencies of the ruling, as well as to disclose the decision to participants of a February 13 call that has been widely reported as the occasion in which OPM ordered agencies to terminate probationary employees, according to the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees.
The layoffs that hit FDA, CDC, and USDA were met with criticism from key food industry stakeholders, and also resulted in the resignation of former FDA Deputy Commissioner for Human Foods James (Jim) Jones, who took issue with the dismissal of 89 of his staffers who held food safety responsibilities.
Since the firings took place, some agencies have worked to re-hire dismissed employees, such as certain USDA personnel involved in avian influenza response, as well as the Acting Director of the FDA Office of Critical Foods, who was on the job for less than a year and was charged with leading efforts to strengthen infant formula safety.
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