Transportation Department workers with 'exceptional' reviews told they're fired for 'performance' issues

Letters went out to dozens of probationary employees in at least one section of the Department of Transportation that said part of the reason they were being fired was for poor performance, according to a copy of the letter obtained by NBC News.

But as a source familiar and a secondary document viewed by NBC News laid out, most of those employees were rated as being “exceptional” performers by their supervisors.

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“Employee has demonstrated exceptional performance and has no conduct issues,” supervisor reviews read for many of the laid-off workers.

“These letters that we’re sending these employees, I feel so bad because they’re lying,” the person familiar said. “All of them, pretty much, were exceptional performers. It’s just crazy to me.”

The firings come as the Trump administration steps up its purge of the federal workforce. But they’re being done so quickly, and are often directed by people with no government experience, that agencies are having to contend with the messy fallout — which has included trying to un-fire people.

On Thursday, Office of Personnel Management officials notified agencies that they should cut loose their probationary employees, which could affect hundreds of thousands of people, according to OPM data, though the exact number of those who will be let go was not immediately clear.

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Probationary status has nothing to do with performance; it typically indicates someone who has been working in the federal government for less than two years — before full civil service protections kick in. It can also apply to longtime civil service workers who move to a different agency or job.

“The U.S. Department of Transportation finds, that based on your performance you have not demonstrated that your further employment at the Department of Transportation would be in the public interest,” the letter to fired staffers read. “For this reason, the Department of Transportation is removing you from your position with the Department of Transportation and the federal civil service effective today.”

Federal regulations state that probationary employees “shall” be terminated during the probationary period “if the employee fails to demonstrate fully his or her qualifications for continued employment.” Moreover, regulations state that “information in the notice as to why the employee is being terminated shall, as a minimum, consist of the agency’s conclusions as to the inadequacies of his performance or conduct.”

After publication of this article, a Transportation Department spokesperson on Monday referenced concerns about layoffs affecting aviation safety following a series of recent plane crashes. A few hundred employees at the Federal Aviation Administration were fired over the weekend.

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"The FAA continues to hire and onboard air traffic controllers and safety professionals, including mechanics and others who support them," the spokesperson said. "The agency has retained employees who perform safety critical functions."

The White House did not respond to a request for comment. McLaurine Pinover, an OPM spokesperson, deferred to the Department of Transportation and said the administration would not be able to provide full details on how many probationary employees were cut across the government until Tuesday.

“The probationary period is a continuation of the job application process, not an entitlement for permanent employment,” an OPM spokesperson said in an earlier statement. “Agencies are taking independent action in light of the recent hiring freeze and in support of the President’s broader efforts to restructure and streamline the federal government to better serve the American people at the highest possible standard.”

With the Trump administration seeking to cut up to 10% of the federal workforce, mass firings have at times been done in a haphazard manner. One employee at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau who was told they were fired provided NBC News with a copy of a letter informing them of their termination that did not even include their name. Instead, it was addressed to “[EmployeeFirstName] [EmployeeLastName]” and was filled with other placeholder text including “[JobTitle],” “[Division]” and “[AppointmentDate].”

And on Friday, National Nuclear Security Administration officials sought to notify some employees who were fired the day before that they are now due to be reinstated — but struggled to find them because they didn’t have their new contact information.

“The termination letters for some NNSA probationary employees are being rescinded, but we do not have a good way to get in touch with those personnel,” read an email sent to NNSA employees and obtained by NBC News.

In addition to the potential for hundreds of thousands of probationary employees to be let go, the White House has said about 75,000 people have accepted their offer of “deferred resignation” as of Wednesday, though NBC News cannot independently verify that total. The federal government employs more than 2 million workers, and their total compensation makes up about 6.6% of the overall budget.

Judges have halted some of this wide-ranging effort to rapidly upend the government, though a federal judge did allow the deferred resignation program to move forward.

Commenting on the legality of his administration’s actions on Saturday, President Donald Trump posted a remark on social media that has generally been attributed to the French leader Napoleon Bonaparte.

“He who saves his Country does not violate any Law,” Trump wrote.