The Department of Energy late Thursday reinstated employees who had been fired last month in governmentwide cuts, according to a DOE memo viewed by POLITICO’s E&E News.
“You will be returned to your previous position with DOE, and to federal service effective the date of your” firing, the memo says.
The February firings targeted probationary employees, who have typically been on the job for less than two years.
In the Thursday memo, which had not been reported previously and is crafted for “all impacted employees,” DOE said it was forced to act by U.S. District Judge William Alsup’s order Thursday to reinstate the fired staffers. The order called the decision to make the cuts “unlawful.”
The DOE memo is signed by Reesha Trznadel, who is identified as acting chief human capital officer. DOE’s website lists her as the department’s deputy general counsel for business transactions. Trznadel is a career staffer, not a political appointee.
DOE is “hereby rescinding” the firings, the memo says. “Your record will not show this termination action,” it adds.
The department is now reissuing equipment and badges so fired employees “can resume work as soon as possible,” the memo says.
The so-called Department of Government Efficiency, which is led by Elon Musk, the world’s richest person, has pushed aggressive cuts to federal staffing and funding. Musk brandished a chain saw on the stage at the Conservative Political Action Conference last month to emphasize the cuts.
Other members of President Donald Trump’s inner circle have pushed for years to make deep cuts in the federal bureaucracy. Russ Vought, director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, said in 2023 he wants “bureaucrats to be traumatically affected.”
Thousands of federal employees have lost their jobs since Trump took office in January. Jobless claims in Washington have spiked in recent weeks. Critics say the cuts will jeopardize key government functions.
It’s unclear how many other parts of the federal government reinstated employees Thursday.
Alsup, a Clinton appointee, said agencies were permitted to make “reductions in force” in line with U.S. law. Vought previously told agencies to submit plans for staff cuts by March 13.
DOE did not immediately respond for comment.
“If you decline to return, DOE will treat such declination as a resignation from your position and federal service,” the Thursday memo says.
