But interviews with more than a dozen recently laid-off federal workers, plus documents obtained by CNN, demonstrate that firing decisions are far more arbitrary and that in many cases the exact opposite is happening — people who have been recently promoted or received strong performance reviews are among those who have been terminated.
Employees at agencies across the government, including the Departments of Homeland Security, Energy, Transportation, and Veterans Affairs, who received positive performance reviews within the last year have been fired for failing to meet performance standards or for conduct reasons, CNN has learned.
In some cases, employees who received a mark of “achieved excellence” from their superiors last year now find themselves out of a job.
That’s fueled widespread criticism from officials who believe the Trump administration is simply using employees’ probationary status, as well as agency performance standards, as a pretext to fire thousands of federal workers – including some who occupy highly-specialized roles in cybersecurity, overseeing US nuclear weapons and maintaining the country’s critical infrastructure projects.
At the National Nuclear Security Administration, where Trump officials have scrambled to reinstate hundreds of fired workers tasked with managing America’s nuclear weapons, one fired employee had recently received an ‘exceeds expectations’ performance review.
The former employee, who worked on nuclear defense programs, told CNN that access to their email and personnel file was terminated about five minutes after they first learned they were fired. They initially didn’t get the documents necessary to apply for unemployment benefits. They also told CNN they fear having their specialized Q security clearance terminated, which could significantly harm their ability to get a job in the private sector.
This former employee also told CNN the NNSA firings “makes us more targets for foreign operations.” This former employee said they haven’t gotten any protection or guidance from NNSA or the Department of Energy on how to protect themselves from any possible foreign threats.
The firings have been a huge setback to the mission of modernizing the US nuclear arsenal, the former employee added – both with the loss of talent and the massive distraction the firings have caused inside the agency.
“This is going to set the nuclear security enterprise back years,” the former employee said.
CNN has asked the Energy Department for comment on whether it would terminate security clearances for fired NNSA employees, and if it had offered any protections or guidance on how these employees should protect themselves from possible foreign threats.
Cyber workers fired despite hacking threats
The Trump administration has also started the process of firing roughly 130 people at the Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, including at least one official who received an “achieved excellence” performance review just last summer, according to documents obtained by CNN.
Yet, this employee was among those recently terminated for failing to meet performance and conduct standards, a source familiar with the matter told CNN.
The fired cybersecurity specialist and many others who were terminated also worked on fully funded and congressionally mandated programs, including those focused on countering Chinese hacking threats to US infrastructure.
“It appears these firing decisions were made with no regard for statutorily mandated, fully funded programs,” the source told CNN, adding that it makes little sense to fire cybersecurity employees at a time when the US is facing significant threats from China and other foreign adversaries.
Another probationary CISA employee, working as a security specialist, received a termination letter on Wednesday stating “you are not fit for continued employment because your ability, knowledge, and skills do not fit the agency’s current needs,” according to a copy obtained by CNN.
“Your performance has not been adequate to justify further employment at the agency,” it adds.
The notification letter leans heavily on the employee’s probationary status to justify the firing, despite the fact this individual is a medically retired veteran with multiple years of federal service at the Department of Defense before moving to CISA.
High performers fired over low-performance
Across numerous agencies, employees have received similarly-worded letters stating that “based on your performance,” their employment was no longer in the “public interest”— despite having received excellent performance reviews or not having worked long enough at the agency to have received one.
Some probationary employees at the Department of Transportation received a memo late last week saying they’d been removed from their positions “based on their performance,” according to a copy of the correspondence obtained by CNN.
But several of the employees did not have bad performance reviews and at least one had recently received an award for their work, according to a source familiar with the matter.
At Veterans Affairs, where more than 1,000 probationary employees were fired last week, many who spoke to CNN received termination notices that listed their job performance as the reason for termination.
One termination letter obtained by CNN said the person was being fired “based on your performance” even though their last performance review in June 2024 noted their exceptional performance was “Fully successful or better.” The worker who received the termination notice worked in a community-based clinic, helping veterans seeking mental health care and other services.
When one Department of Education employee who’d been on the job for only a month was told they were being fired for performance, they asked how their performance was being judged. They then received a corrected correspondence saying they were being fired for being a probationary employee.
At the Department of Energy, one probationary employee was fired but then rehired once the agency realized the critical nature of their work on the power grid in the Pacific Northwest. Their original termination letter did not mention performance and instead stated they were being fired because their “further employment would not be in the public interest.”
Yet once they were rehired and their access to government phones, email, and IT systems were restored, they discovered their online personnel file listed “unsatisfactory performance” as the reason for termination.
Political appointees at the DOE told HR administrators to cite poor performance personnel files as a justification for firing employees, according to one source familiar with the matter. Frustrated by the pressure from political appointees, two of those HR employees submitted their resignations on Friday.
Amid the fallout from the poor communication around firings, Christopher Wright, Trump’s Secretary of Energy, on Friday sent an email to employees pledging accountability.
“I pledge to remain personally engaged in any workforce discussion to ensure accountability,” the email read. “I will communicate goals and objectives so we can continue to serve effectively.”
Wright’s letter was not received well internally, according to multiple sources familiar with the situation. One source inside the Department of Energy described it as “insulting,” while a person at NNSA said many staffers were “disdainful” of the letter and that multiple employees at NNSA still believe Wright “doesn’t truly appreciate the depth of our mission.”
“It’s f**king chaos,” another person familiar with the situation at the Department of Energy said, referring to the firing and attempts to rehire probationary officials whose work relates to nuclear weapons.
“It is indicative of the problem there. Indiscriminate madness by a bunch of teenagers being given the keys to the castle from far above Chris Wright’s pay grade,” the person added.
‘Best people for the job’
Other federal employees who spoke to CNN believe they were fired after being put on probationary status due to promotions. A woman who worked with endangered animals at the Department of Interior was promoted to a new role last spring, moving her into a probationary status despite working in the federal government for the previous 6 years.
She shared her termination letter with CNN, which was devoid of any personal details and did not even list her job title. The letter stated, “The Department has determined your knowledge, skills, and abilities do not meet the Department’s current needs, and it is necessary and appropriate to terminate, during the probationary period, your appointment…”
A permanent employee at the US Fish and Wildlife Service was included in last week’s layoffs meant to target hundreds of probationary employees at the department.
The employee joined FWS less than a year ago after serving several years in other federal agencies, granting them a permanent position when taking their latest job.
Employee records shared with CNN clearly indicate the staffer’s permanent role and state they completed the service requirements to obtain career tenure.
“The service is losing a wealth of institutional knowledge,” by terminating career civil servants, said the staffer who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of retribution.
FWS did not respond to requests for comment.
On a call with affected employees last week, FWS leadership repeatedly underscored the layoffs – which included 420 employees – were not performance-based.
“We hired you because you were the best people for the job because we wanted and we needed you as colleagues to be part of our team within the Fish and Wildlife Service,” an FWS executive said on Friday’s call, according to an audio recording obtained by CNN.
However the termination letter sent to affected employees following the call contradicts that sentiment entirely.
“The Department has determined your knowledge, skills, and abilities do not meet the Department’s current needs,” the letter said.
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