Trump administration lays off most probationary staff and warns big cuts to come

Office of personnel management orders agencies to dismiss workers who had not yet gained civil service protection

The Trump administration on Thursday intensified its sweeping efforts to shrink the size of the federal workforce, the country's largest employer, by ordering agencies to lay off nearly all probationary employees who had not yet gained civil service protection - potentially affecting hundreds of thousands of workers.

In addition, workers at some agencies were warned that large workplace cuts would be coming.