Trump races to fix a big mistake: DOGE fired too many people

Early this spring, the Food and Drug Administration fired nearly 50 workers in the Office of Regulatory Policy — only to turn around and order them back to the office with one day’s notice.

After dismissing thousands of probationary employees for fabricated “performance” issues, the IRS reversed course and told them to show up to work in late May.

And some staff at the U.S. Agency for International Development, dismantled in the first days of the Trump administration by a gleeful Elon Musk and his cost-cutting team at the U.S. DOGE Service, checked their inboxes this month to find an unexpected offer: Would you consider returning — to work for the State Department?

Across the government, the Trump administration is scrambling to rehire many federal employees dismissed under DOGE’s staff-slashing initiatives after wiping out entire offices, in some cases imperiling key services such as weather forecasting and the drug approval process.

Since Musk left the White House last week, he and Trump have fallen out bitterly, sniping at each other in public over the cost of Trump’s sweeping tax legislation and government subsidies for Musk’s businesses. But even before that, the administration was working to undo some of DOGE’s highest-profile actions.

Trump officials are trying to recover not only people who were fired, but also thousands of experienced senior staffers who are opting for a voluntary exit as the administration rolls out a second resignation offer. Thousands more staff are returning in fits and starts as a conflicting patchwork of court decisions overturn some of Trump’s large-scale firings, especially his Valentine’s Day dismissal of all probationary workers, those with one or two years of government service and fewer job protections. A federal judge in April ordered the president to reinstate probationary workers dismissed from 20 federal agencies, although a few days later the Supreme Court — in a different case — halted another judge’s order to reinstate a smaller group.

Some fired federal employees, especially those at retirement age or who have since secured jobs in the private sector, are proving reluctant to return. So the administration is seeking work-arounds and stopgaps, including asking remaining staff to serve in new roles, work overtime or volunteer to fill vacancies, according to interviews with 18 federal workers across eight agencies and messages obtained by the Washington Post. A Post review found recent messy re-hirings at agencies including the Food and Drug Administration, the IRS, the State Department and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. In some cases, the government is posting new online job listings very similar to positions it recently vacated, a Post review of USAJobs found.

The ever-shifting personnel changes are yet another strain on a workforce already weary of Trump-induced uncertainty, said current and former employees, most of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation.

“They wanted to show they were gutting the government, but there was no thought about what parts might be worth keeping,” said one FDA staffer who was fired and rehired. “Now it feels like it was all just a game to them.”

A White House official said in an interview that it is no secret Trump arrived in Washington determined to streamline the government. During that downsizing, the official acknowledged, some people were fired who shouldn’t have been. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity to candidly discuss a complex issue that spans many federal agencies.

“Each agency has made an appropriate determination as to who should be on the payroll in the respective agency,” the official said. “If by chance mistakes were made and critical employees were dismissed, each individual agency is working diligently to bring these people back to work to continue the adequate functions of the federal government.”

In statements, some agencies also admitted to errors, while promising the government is working to fix them.

“During this process,” said an Agriculture Department spokesperson, “USDA has been transparent about any mistakes that were made.”

The administration has already had to race to undo its own cuts. In February, the Agriculture Department launched a campaign to rehire bird flu response workers after avian influenza sent egg prices soaring. That same month, the Trump administration fired nearly 17 percent of the National Nuclear Security Administration’s workforce, temporarily imperiling the safety and security of America’s 5,000 nuclear warheads — before hiring them back after an outcry.

In recent weeks, other agencies have seen similar patterns.

At the start of April, the FDA let go of thousands, including laboratory staff, librarians and those who helped manage the budget. The dismissals hit particularly hard at the Office of Drug Policy, the Office of Regulatory Policy and teams that worked on Freedom of Information Act requests and patent extensions, according to interviews with eight current and former FDA employees.

But three weeks later, fired workers began getting calls on their personal cellphones — and soon, a message to their personal emails: They were all due back.

The “Notice of Reduction in Force (RIF) issued to you … is officially RESCINDED [and] you will not be separated from employment,” read an email sent to terminated staff in May and obtained by the Post. “You are expected to return to duty the next business day following your receipt of this notice.”

One FDA worker said she complied only because she hadn’t found other employment yet.

“Being back feels like a funeral,” she said. “Morale is terrible. Everyone is stressed and feels the absence of our colleagues. … I’m looking for another job.”

At the IRS, managers received a notice on May 19, a Monday, that all probationary workers would be coming back to the office on Friday, according to a copy obtained by the Post. The turnaround was so swift that some probationary staff probably wouldn’t have a desk or a laptop initially, the announcement acknowledged: “If a seat assignment is not available … your employees should begin teleworking until local management secures a seat assignment for them.”

Asked about the FDA’s back-and-forth, a Health and Human Services spokesperson wrote in a statement that “any reassignment or restructuring is being done to strengthen outcomes. Our restructuring is delivering leaner and better government services to the American people.” The IRS did not respond to requests for comment.

At USAID, thousands have been out of work since early this year, when their agency became ground zero for Trump and Musk’s overhaul of government. But at the start of this month, some ex-USAID officials began hearing from former colleagues about potential new jobs at the State Department, which has assumed responsibility for distributing foreign aid, once USAID’s task. The outreach soon morphed into formal offers, with an application deadline of May 19.

One former senior USAID official said she decided to go for it.

“I was like, well, I definitely don’t want to work for this administration, but, yes, I need a job, so put my name down,” she said. “Why not? I have nothing to lose.”

Overall, few USAID workers are expected to return. According to documents shared with the Post, fewer than 200 total positions were advertised, a tiny fraction of the roughly 10,000 people employed by USAID before it was torn apart. Although the Trump administration has cut more than 80 percent of USAID programs, the State Department has taken over the remainder, controlling billions in foreign assistance.

A State Department spokesperson, who declined to be named, said Secretary of State Marco Rubio “approved the hiring of a small number of positions … in connection with the Department assuming responsibility for limited former USAID programming."

As other agencies grapple with fallout from dismissals and departures, managers are leaning on remaining employees to fill the gaps — and in some cases, hiring new workers to replace those who have left.

At the National Weather Service, waves of DOGE-led early retirements and probationary firings left some local forecasting offices without enough staff to maintain 24/7 operations, while others lost the ability to launch as many weather balloons, a key forecasting tool. In one Kentucky office, the agency had to stagger shifts ahead of a tornado outbreak to ensure enough meteorologists were working to cover the overnight threat.

Last month, as meteorologists and Democrats in Congress warned that staffing cuts could leave the Weather Service unable to fulfill its mission of saving lives and protecting property from extreme weather, the agency sought to make up for the cuts by reassigning staff from across the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Weather Service director Ken Graham, meanwhile, assured employees throughout the spring that the agency was close to securing a public safety exemption to the government-wide hiring freeze.

It finally arrived Monday, Graham told Weather Service staff in an email, obtained by the Post, that began: “Big news! Fantastic news!” The agency will soon post job listings for 126 meteorologist, hydrologist, physical scientist and electronics technician roles, which Graham described as “a targeted number of critical positions” that would “further stabilize front line operations.”

“Together, these hiring authorities and staffing flexibilities will allow us to continue meeting our foundational mission, including issuing timely and accurate forecasts and warnings,” he added. The agency confirmed the hiring in a statement and said it was part of a series of steps to address staff losses.

At the Department of Housing and Urban Development, some offices saw so many people take Trump’s early resignation offer that officials are now seeking to redeploy staff to cover the absences. Community Planning and Development, a HUD department that responds to wildfires and hurricanes and administers billions of dollars in grants, is especially strained. That department’s Office of Field Operations has 13 field offices with two or fewer employees left, according to an internal presentation from May 27 obtained by the Post. More than 30 field offices have broader staffing concerns, the presentation showed.

Department staff sent a “voluntary reassignment” offer to employees within Community Planning and Development, where about 40 percent of employees had already resigned. Headcount dropped from 936 employees at the start of Trump’s term to 560 by May, according to a staffer who attended the presentation.

Officials “learned that certain Regions and Field Offices have lost serious staffing capabilities,” according to a May 23 message to staff obtained by the Post, which noted the reassignment offers are meant to “immediately cover skill gaps and critical functions.” Staffers would be required to work in person but will not have moving costs covered, according to the employee.

“In some cases, supervisors are left with no staff, or staff are left with no supervisors, or offices are left with nobody to keep programs delivered,” the email to staff read.

A HUD spokesperson wrote in a statement that, given roughly 2,300 employees are “taking the opportunity to find a new path, it only makes sense that the department would have a plan in place to ensure that mission critical functions and the highest quality service to rural, tribal and urban communities remain uninterrupted.”

Within the FDA, the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research is struggling to recover from the loss of too many “timekeepers,” personnel who handle pay, leave and travel logistics, emails show. A plaintive message sent to the center’s staff in early May noted the department “is still working on a long-term solution for our timekeeping needs.” It asked for volunteers.

“If folks are willing to be trained as a timekeeper or have prior timekeeping experience (does not need to be recent),” the missive said, “please respond back to this email to let us know if you are interested.”

In other agencies, managers are having to fix problems from Trump- or DOGE-driven restructurings.

At the Social Security Administration’s call center in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, IT workers were told by managers in mid-April that they needed to request a transfer or face possible firing, said Barri Sue Bryant, president of the American Federation of Government Employees Local 2809. Nearly all of the 40-plus workers in that office did so, sending their laptops and spare equipment to the agency’s Baltimore headquarters and awaiting a new assignment while the union attempted to explain to leadership how essential these employees were, Bryant said.

“We are critically understaffed in all of our departments,” Bryant wrote in an email to leadership. “Having systems and employees down is not contributing to the goals of this agency.”

But management would soon find out on their own.

A specialized scanner that can quickly input forms and scan barcodes broke down and was unusable for a day. A customer service representative who was supposed to answer the 800 number couldn’t take calls for three days while her computer was in disrepair.

“It really sent everyone for a loop,” Bryant said.

After three days, the agency told the union the decision had been reversed. The employees got back their equipment and resumed their normal jobs in Wilkes-Barre.

Asked about the IT workers, Social Security provided an emailed statement from an unnamed official, whom it declined to identify. The statement did not address the reassignments but criticized “the fake news media, specifically the Washington Post” for “pushing a false narrative about Social Security. The truth is that President Trump is protecting and strengthening Social Security just like he promised.”

Federal workers caught in similar situations described being on an unsettling roller coaster.

One USDA safety inspector remembered answering a call from their manager one weekend to learn they were fired for “performance,” even though they had received positive reviews, according to personnel documents reviewed by the Post. But by Monday — the day before the employee was supposed to turn in their badge — the manager called back to say the termination was rescinded.

In April, when the Trump administration offered early retirement, the employee leaped at it and was soon placed on administrative leave.

A few days later, former colleagues reached out: The government was now looking to fill the person’s job again. Did they want back in?

“I was like, yep, nope, I’m not risking it again,” the employee said. “I’m gonna try to take the money and try to find something else.”