U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner of Virginia and Chris Van Hollen of Maryland have introduced the Protect Our Probationary Employees Act.
The legislation is aimed at protecting recently fired federal workers and would ensure that if and when employees are reinstated, they will not need to restart their probationary period for the same job they previously held. The legislation was introduced in the House of Representatives by U.S. Rep. Sarah Elfreth of Maryland.
“Over the past 50 days, more than 20,000 non-political civil servants have been ruthlessly booted from their jobs without cause. Unsurprisingly, a number of these individuals are now being reinstated, either through legal proceedings or because the Trump-Musk administration has realized that these jobs were necessary, and these employees not easily replaced. This important legislation would ensure that those dedicated civil servants are able to pick back up where they left off and finish out their probationary periods without penalty,” Warner said.
Van Hollen said that Trump and Musk’s purge of federal employees was illegal and “has unfairly harmed thousands of dedicated civil servants and their families, while threatening the critical services they provide day in and day out to the American people. There is clearly no method to this madness – swept up in this chaos were longtime career employees who were recently promoted, along with others who had received glowing performance reviews for their good work. We will continue fighting to reverse these reprehensible actions in the courts – and as those efforts allow employees to return to their jobs, this legislation guarantees that these employees don’t have to restart the clock.”
Warner has been outspoken about the ramifications the Trump-Musk administration’s reckless actions will have on the federal workforce. During Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Russell Vought’s confirmation hearing, Warner grilled him on his plans to ‘traumatize’ federal workers. Warner has also repeatedly warned of the impact the actions will have on public health, national security and veterans’ services. He highlighted the real-world impact of cuts during President Trump’s State of the Union Address, bringing Ashley Ranalli, a recently fired National Park Service ranger, as his guest.
CNN reported on Tuesday that a Maryland federal judge ruled that terminated probationary workers must be temporarily reinstated. Federal agencies told staffers they would comply, but then placed the same employees on paid leave. Employees at the Environmental Protection Agency, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Internal Revenue Service and the Food & Drug Administration were included.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture is reportedly working on a phased plan for probationary workers to return to duties. Merit Systems Protection Board issued an order that nearly 6,000 probationary employees who were laid off in mid-February must be reinstated for at least 45 days.
Federal Aviation Administration probationary employees were told they would be on administrative leave through Wednesday, but supervisors would reach out with plans to return to work, receive back pay and have the termination removed from their personnel records.
Upon his inauguration day, President Donald Trump signed several executive orders and put Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) in charge of eliminating federal government waste. Trump began a funding freeze and then a hiring freeze as well as began laying off thousands of federal workers across most agencies, including tens of thousands of probationary employees.
The probationary period for federal workers is one year for most agencies, while employees in the private sector usually have a 90-day probationary period.
While some are eager to return to work, CNN reported that one IRS worker said the office environment had become toxic and abusive under the Trump Administration and they would carefully consider their next step.
“A good part of me says this is not viable. I can’t go back to work under these conditions,” the IRS employee, a certified public accountant, told CNN. ” It was almost inhumane. You knew something was coming down, and there was just a complete vacuum of information.”
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Rebecca Barnabi
