Trump administration revises directive to federal agencies on mass firings

Washington — The Office of Personnel Management issued revised guidance to federal agencies Tuesday regarding the firing of probationary workers amid President Trump's efforts to shrink the size of the government, informing department leaders that they do not have to take any "specific performance-based actions" regarding those employees.

The revised memo from Charles Ezell, the acting director of OPM, comes after a federal judge ruled last week that the Trump administration's mass firings of probationary workers, who generally have been in their jobs for less than one year, were likely illegal. 

U.S. District Judge William Alsup found that "OPM did not have the authority to direct the firing of employees, probationary or otherwise, in any other federal agency."