Federal Managers Association

In the News

• Probationary appeal rights under further threat by OPM proposal - January 9, 2026

• By Erich Wagner, Government Executive

  he Trump administration last week proposed new rules that would strip newly hired federal employees of their access to the Merit Systems Protection Board and further erode the grounds upon which they can challenge adverse personnel actions.

  For the first year of federal employment, new hires to the government already generally enjoy fewer removal protections than their tenured counterparts. Despite that, agencies may only terminate a probationary employee over performance or conduct.

  Last April, after multiple judges reverted the Trump administration’s efforts to purge probationary employees across government by the thousands, President Trump signed an executive order aimed at making it easier to remove them, adding agency needs and organizational goals to the list of reasons managers may cite in said firings.

  To read the full article, click here.

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