Overview:
-Federal employees in Michigan face layoffs under the Trump administration's push to shrink government size
-While some jobs were restored, the effects on Michigan's environmental oversight and emergency services remain uncertain.
-Federal worker unions are resisting these cuts.
Dozens of federal workers in Michigan were fired during the “The Valentine’s Day Massacre” on Feb. 14, which saw thousands laid off as part of the Trump administration’s efforts to reduce the size of the federal government.
This includes at least 60 Forest Service workers who support firefighting efforts and help manage invasive species, according to WCMU Public Media, and 14 Fish and Wildlife Service employees who oversee the program to protect lake trout from invasive sea lampreys, Bridge Michigan reported.
Thousands of probationary federal workers have been laid off across the country. These employees have generally been at their jobs for less than two years and lack the civil service protections that shield other federal workers. Roughly 5%-6% of total government spending goes toward federal worker salaries, NPR reported, citing the Economic Policy Institute.
It’s unclear exactly how many federal workers have been fired in Michigan as waves of layoffs hit agencies like the Department of Energy, Department of Defense, and the Environmental Protection Agency.
EPA workers previously told Planet Detroit that cuts to the EPA Region 5 office in Chicago could impact the response to environmental disasters like oil spills and enforcement of drinking water, air quality, and hazardous waste rules. Unions representing federal workers are pushing back, holding rallies and filing lawsuits to challenge efforts by President Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk to reduce the federal workforce.
Cuts to federal agencies could prove unpopular. A November poll commissioned by the Environmental Protection Network, a group founded by former EPA workers, found a majority of those who voted for Trump opposed efforts to weaken the EPA. A poll from Republican-leaning pollster Rasmussen Reports found most U.S. citizens don’t think the layoffs will benefit the economy.
The Office of Personnel Management defended the right to fire probationary employees in a statement issued before the mass layoffs of Feb. 14, The Hill reported, saying agencies were taking independent action to support the president’s “efforts to restructure and streamline the federal government.”
“The probationary period is a continuation of the job application process, not an entitlement for permanent employment,” an OPM spokesperson reportedly said.
Below is the latest on federal layoffs at food, environmental, and public health agencies.
- Department of Agriculture, including the U.S. Forest Service: 4,200 employees were fired from the USDA, which includes 3,400 from the forest service. Bridge Michigan reported that at least 60 USFS employees were fired in Michigan, but a union official wasn’t able to provide data on all Forest Service workers who may have been impacted.
- Environmental Protection Agency: A union official at EPA’s Region 5 office, which serves Michigan and the upper Midwest, said that 50 employees were fired according to Bridge Michigan, out of 388 EPA workers laid off nationally. Several Region 5 firings were reversed and union officials told Planet Detroit they weren’t aware of any layoffs at the Region 5 Emergency Response Branch office in Ann Arbor or the separate National Vehicle and Fuel Emissions Laboratory, also located in Ann Arbor. Nevertheless, Nicole Cantello, president of the American Federation of Government Employees Local 704, which includes workers in EPA Region 5, said layoffs at the Chicago office would harm environmental enforcement and emergency response in Michigan.
- Fish and Wildlife Service: Fourteen Fish and Wildlife employees working on invasive sea lamprey control in the Great Lakes were fired. The program costs more than $20 million annually, but it’s seen as critical for protecting the $7 billion Great Lakes fishery. Greg McClinchey, with the Great Lakes Fishery Commission, a U.S. and Canadian commission that manages sea lampreys, said 20-30 seasonal employees will not be hired for the 2025 season.
Other layoffs that could impact Michigan include firings at the departments of Energy, Health and Human Services, and Interior, which lost 1,000, 2,800, and 2,300 employees respectively, according to New York magazine.
Several agencies have lost staff only for some firings to be walked back. This includes the Department of Veteran Affairs, which fired more than 1,000 employees and then sought to reinstate some health care workers, USA Today reported. A similar situation occurred at the Indian Health Service, where 950 employees were told they would be laid off Feb. 14, only to have Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. rescind the firings, NPR said.
Similar efforts by the “department of government efficiency,” a commission charged with reducing government spending led by Musk, have added to the chaos at federal agencies.
Over the weekend, Musk sent workers an email through the Office of Personnel Management to millions of federal employees, demanding they provide a list of their accomplishments for the past week by midnight Monday. “Failure to respond will be taken as a resignation,” Musk said in a post on his social media platform X, formerly Twitter.
On Monday, the OPM walked back the threat, telling employees that responding to the email was not mandatory and a failure to do so would not result in termination.
Unions representing federal workers amended a lawsuit on Sunday to challenge the email. The lawsuit from the AFL-CIO, American Federation of Government Employees, and other unions also challenges the legality of the mass firing of probationary employees and argues that only federal agencies, not OPM, have the authority to fire employees.
READ MORE…
EPA reverses some layoffs at Chicago’s Region 5 office
EPA layoffs drive a surge in union support as workers fear more firings.
Michigan groups protest Musk and Trump’s ‘ongoing coup’ at Congressional offices
Advocates say they want lawmakers to stand up to the administration’s actions, which they say are unconstitutional and will harm education, public health and the environment.