This article has been updated to clarify how the 45-day reinstatement would affect staffing at the Mendenhall Glacier Visitors Center.
The Trump turmoil in the federal workforce continued at full tilt Tuesday as the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced all fired probationary workers will be reinstated with back pay at least temporarily, while the Department of Education made another round of mass firings that essentially cut its workforce by half.
Those two moves were just part of the day’s chaos that Trump administration officials are embracing as a necessary shakeup and detractors say is causing harm on a historic scale. Among the other shakeups is the announced firing of more than 1,000 additional workers at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, on top of those that have already resulted in the loss of 10% of Alaska’s National Weather Service employees, according to published reports.
A 45-day reinstatement of nearly 6,000 USDA employees ordered last week by a federal board means that, barring other actions by the Trump administration, staff rehired by the Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center for that period would be there when first cruise ship arrives in Juneau on April 14. Only two employees were left at the center when 80% of the staff was fired in mid-February, although U.S. Forest Service staff assigned elsewhere in Juneau have been helping since.
The Merit System Protection Board, which reviews firings of federal employees, on March 5 ordered the USDA to reinstate fired probationary employees for 45 days while a legal challenge to the terminations plays out. The fired probationary employees, as with thousands of others terminated at agencies throughout the government, lack civil service protections because they have generally started or been promoted at their current job within the past year.
A statement issued by the USDA on Tuesday stated the paid reinstatement of employees will be effective as of Wednesday, although they may not actually begin working again that day.
“The Department will place all terminated probationary employees in pay status and provide each with back pay, from the date of termination,” the statement notes. “The Department will work quickly to develop a phased plan for return-to-duty, and while those plans materialize, all probationary employees will be paid.”
However, the Trump administration continued moving ahead with downsizings elsewhere in what they are calling an effort to remove waste and fraud from the federal government, as well as programs that don’t align with the administration’s priorities.
The Education Department announced the firing of more than 1,300 employees on Tuesday, adding to 572 employees who accepted separation packages offered in recent weeks and 63 probationary workers who were terminated last month, according to The New York Times. The department had 4,133 employees on Jan. 1, but President Donald Trump has stated he plans to shut down the department, shifting responsibilities to states and some other federal agencies.
Federal funding accounts for a small sliver of the Juneau School District’s budget, with most coming from state and municipal funds. The Times notes the education department “manages federal loans for college, tracks student achievement and enforces civil rights laws in schools” among its primary functions.
The additional NOAA firings “will have eliminated about one out of four jobs since President Donald Trump took office in January,” according to the Associated Press.
• Contact Mark Sabbatini at mark.sabbatini@juneauempire.com or (907) 957-2306.
