Probationary Federal Workers Among First Hit by Mass Firings

Greenbelt is a city brimming with federal workers and government contractors, who are feeling the impact of the Trump administration’s onslaught of executive orders and Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) cuts targeting them. While many federal workers in Greenbelt are now uncertain of their job security, those who were probationary workers – one or two years into their current position – were the first to be hit by mass firings. So far tens of thousands of probationary employees across agencies have been fired. The American Federation of Government Employees has called the terminations illegal and for them to be rescinded. On February 27, a federal judge agreed, saying the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) doesn’t have authority to fire the staff of other agencies and ordered a temporary halt. It’s now the subject of several lawsuits. But while those play out, the impact on those fired, without severance or notice, is immediate.
Chelly Tavss has lived in GHI for four years. She recently had a baby she’d wanted for years. She had been working at the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) in College Park for just over one year. She had a good performance review in October, was promoted in late January and had recently earned a security clearance. “I was all ready to have a great 2025,” she said. Then in February she was fired, effective immediately, while she was on maternity leave. The reason cited was reduction in force (RIF). She received no advance notice or severance pay but was told she will have her vacation time paid out to her. She was able to keep her insurance for her and her baby for 31 days.
Tavss’ daughter is three months old. She’s a single mother by choice and the only parent providing for her child. She’d thought her position was a stable one for her family, with insurance, benefits and paid maternity leave. Like others, she doesn’t believe the RIF was carried out legally.
Tavss is now applying for unemployment, which means she needs to prove she is applying to at least three jobs a week, and she has to manage to make those applications without childcare, which she now can’t afford. She asked GHI if there was any help available – she noted her monthly co-op fees have increased considerably in the four years she’s been in her home – but there are no funds to help, she was told, and GHI advised her to contact her mortgage company. She filed her taxes and plans to use her refund to live on for a month or two.
In stark contrast to the current portrayals of federal workers, perpetuated by the Trump administration as lazy or unproductive, prior to having her baby, Tavss has worked multiple part-time jobs in addition to her full-time position at NARA, to be in a good place financially to start her family and to pay for the fertility treatments, which were mostly out-of-pocket. Before working at NARA she was a librarian at Gallaudet, where she’s continued to work part-time. Her supervisor there will welcome her back for 10 hours a week and has even said she can bring her baby with her. Some of the other part-time jobs she’s done in the past won’t be feasible now that she calculates in the cost of a babysitter, so it was a bright spot, Tavss said, though 10 hours a week won’t pay the bills, she acknowledged. However, she has since learned that she won’t be able to receive unemployment benefits if she does work those 10 hours.
Yet, Tavss stresses how fortunate she is. “I live in a great village. We live in a great community,” she said. Friends have watched her baby for a few hours while she applied for jobs and worked on unemployment applications. “I do realize that even as a single parent I’m probably better off than some,” she said. “Again, great village, great support systems around me,” acknowledges Tavss. But she’s still dealing with the shock, she said.
Tavss᾽ family is several states away but she has a sister in Maryland. If she can’t afford to stay in her GHI home, she’s contemplating trying to rent it out temporarily and moving in with her sister. However, her sister is also a federal employee concerned about her job. In addition, she’s reluctant to leave Greenbelt and her friends and community here.
Tavss moved to the Washington, D.C. area during the pandemic. Though she ended up never starting the job she moved for (which was impacted by Covid shutdowns), she knew that this area would be her permanent home and felt settled and ready to raise her family in Greenbelt. There are lots of job opportunities for someone in her field in the D.C. area, she said, but not necessarily when thousands of people with similar credentials are also looking for jobs at the same time. “The irony of the situation is, as a single mom I now have to apply for all the assistance (Medicaid, WIC, food stamps, unemployment) that Trump and all the Republicans want to do away with,” said Tavss.