US federal workers were fired ‘for performance’, but their records say otherwise

Federal workers fired for alleged poor performance as part of US President Donald Trump's remaking of the federal government received excellent performance reviews before they were fired, according to interviews and documents seen by Reuters.

The discrepancy reflects a potential legal misstep by Elon Musk's cost-cutting department of government efficiency, which has fired thousands of mainly probationary federal workers across the US government in a matter of days.

Reuters was told by 12 workers fired from seven government agencies last week that they were among the many public workers who received letters that cited their performance as a reason they were being let go.

“The agency finds, based on your performance, that you have not demonstrated your further employment at the agency would be in the public interest,” reads one letter seen by Reuters.

The White House said the firings were conducted to make government more efficient, but did not answer questions about why high-performing employees were fired.

“President Trump and his administration are delivering on the American people’s mandate to eliminate wasteful spending and make federal agencies more efficient, which includes removing probationary employees who are not mission critical,” said Anna Kelly, a White House spokesperson.

All 12 workers told Reuters they had received high performance reviews in recent weeks or months before their dismissals, and some received merit-based cash bonuses and awards.

Reuters reviewed copies of recent performance evaluations and other commendations provided by the workers, and spoke to their former supervisors.

“It never once crossed my mind that I would be exposed to this kind of action,” said Patrick Shea, a 23-year-old river ranger in Hells Canyon in Idaho who had served with the US forest service for 15 months, including seasonal work during college breaks.

Shea was promoted on December 15 2024 and praised by his supervisor for doing outstanding work, according to a performance review seen by Reuters.

Don Quinn, an employment lawyer who represents federal employees, said he saw no legal rationale for citing performance when dismissing probationary employees, who typically enjoy very limited job protections.

“What they're trying to do is cover themselves by saying it's a performance issue, which opens it up to possible liability for a false firing,” he said.

On Wednesday night, several labour groups sued the administration for its firing of probationary workers, arguing the action was outside the authority of the office of personnel management, which oversees the federal civilian workforce.

Five of the fired workers interviewed by Reuters were working in the forest service, a department of agriculture agency that maintains national forests and combats wildfires.

Tanya Torst was a partnership co-ordinator at the forest service and said she was close to completing a two-year probationary period when she was fired last weekend.

The National Federation of Federal Employees, which represents forest service workers, said the Trump administration has fired 3,400 (NFEE) service employees, though a spokesperson for the agriculture department said the figure was “about 2,000.”

Torst, a member of NFFE, received positive performance reviews, five cash awards and two raises, including one in December 2024, for her work raising money from external partners to manage six forests in California, according to documents seen by Reuters.

“I feel like I'm betrayed by my fellow citizens when all I do is support the forest and serve people,” Torst said.

Reuters also spoke to fired workers with high performance reviews from the agriculture department's natural resources conservation service, economic research service and agricultural research service.

The agriculture department did not respond to a request for comment.

Reuters also spoke to two workers fired from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), including Matt, a neuroscientist researching tobacco product safety who only provided his first name for fear of retaliation.

Matt received the highest possible rating , “achieved outstanding results”, in a review seen by Reuters for the period ending December 31, with his supervisor commenting he “had a spectacular year in 2024" and “excelled in every project he took on”.

The FDA did not respond to a request for comment.

Reuters also spoke to workers fired from the Environmental Protection Agency, which did not respond to a comment request, and General Services Administration, which declined to comment on personnel matters.

Many workers said they planned to appeal their firings to the Merit Systems Protection Board, an independent three-member panel. Trump was blocked by a federal judge on Tuesday from firing its Democratic chair.

A federal judge on Tuesday declined to block the worker firings in a suit brought by states.

Reuters