トランプ政権、試用期間中の連邦職員の解雇を開始

【ワシントンＡＦＰ＝時事】米国のドナルド・トランプ政権は１３日、連邦政府職員の削減計画の一環として、試用期間中の職員の解雇に着手した。（写真はドナルド・トランプ米大統領）
　最初に解雇を公式に認めた連邦政府機関の一つである退役軍人省は、試用期間中の職員１，０００人以上を１３日に解雇したと発表。これらの職員は「業務遂行に必要不可欠ではない」役職に就いていたという。
　同省は、「今回の解雇は、政府機関をより効率的、効果的、かつ即応性のあるものにするというトランプ政権全体の取り組みの一環である」と説明した。
　解雇の対象となる連邦政府職員の正確な数は不明だが、最新の政府データによると、現在試用期間中の職員は２０万人以上にのぼる。
　米メディアは同日、トランプ政権が各連邦政府機関の長に対し、公務員としての保護が弱い試用期間中の職員の大半を解雇するよう指示したと報じた。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2025/02/14-18:47）

US President Donald Trump's administration has begun laying off probationary employees as it moves to the next stage of its plans to aggressively shrink the federal workforce.
The US Department of Veteran's Affairs was one of the first departments to publicly confirm the layoffs, announcing in a statement that it dismissed more than 1,000 probationary employees on Thursday in non mission critical positions.
The dismissals announced today are part of a government-wide Trump Administration effort to make agencies more efficient, effective and responsive to the American People, it said in a statement.
Although the exact number of federal employees affected is unclear, more than 200,000 recently hired workers are currently serving out their probationary period, according to the most recently available government data.
The Trump administration directed agency heads to terminate most trial and probationary staff -- who have fewer civil service protections -- US media reported Thursday.
An employee who was laid off from her job at the United States Office of Personnel Management (OPM) told AFP on condition of anonymity that she had been fired during a video call to which close to 100 employees had been invited.
The employee, and several other participants, were still serving out their probationary periods. All were told they were being let go for performance purposes.
Shortly after the call ended, the employee received a letter from acting OPM director Charles Ezell confirming she had been fired. Her access was cut off less than an hour later.
Spokespeople for OPM and the White House press offices did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Thursday's actions follow a White House push -- led by OPM -- to shrink the number of government workers by offering them eight months' pay to resign.
The email with the resignation offer, titled Fork in the Road, also noted that those who did not accept risked being let go in future culls.
More than 65,000 federal employees accepted the buyout offer from OPM, the White House said.
One employee at the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) who spoke with AFP reported accepting the OPM's offer to resign out of concern for otherwise being fired.
This was my dream job, said the employee, who was not on probation but who had been at HUD for less time -- and thus had less job security -- than many other colleagues.
It just became very clear to me that the writing is on the wall, the employee said. I might as well take the best cushion I have to put myself in the best situation to take the time I need to find a new position.
A HUD spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.