Federal overseers were under time pressure this week to rapidly provide succinct justifications on Twitter, in an attempt to secure the continuation of their staff's positions.

Federal agencies under OPM's purview have been repeatedly targeted to obtain details about newly employed federal workers.

, and ASMedia

2025 September 19 . 4:15 AM

2 min read

Federal officials were given a short deadline this week to write concise explanations in tweet... — Federal officials were given a short deadline this week to write concise explanations in tweet format in an attempt to preserve their staff's employment.

Federal overseers were under time pressure this week to rapidly provide succinct justifications on Twitter, in an attempt to secure the continuation of their staff's positions.

In a surprising turn of events, the Trump administration has issued a directive to several federal agencies, including the Energy Department, asking them to justify the job continuation of their recent hires. This move has caused a wave of uncertainty and fear among employees, with one Energy supervisor admitting, "People are terrified. People are really, really scared."

The directive, originating from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), follows the agency's request for lists of employees still on probationary periods. OPM has given similar instructions to the Internal Revenue Service and at least some other agencies, with a tight deadline for submissions. Agencies were due to submit justifications for their employees' job continuation to OPM on Wednesday.

The sweeping nature of the request indicates that the Trump administration is not focusing narrowly on probationary employees in certain jobs but instead looking to take widespread actions. This has sparked concerns that the administration is planning to dismiss these employees in large numbers.

Under the current system, probationary employees, usually hired within the last one or two years, can be fired quickly and without much recourse. Some agencies have already sent warning notices to impacted staff about their probationary status and the ease of their potential termination.

To comply with the directive, Energy Department supervisors have been told to write justifications for their team's job continuation. However, the 200-character limit per employee and the 20-minute deadline to justify each hire has made the task challenging. The Energy supervisor stated that the restrictions forced their team to write simple descriptions, offering few details on job duties.

The directive marks a new, more uniform approach to gathering information about employees and their roles. Agencies have been including employees who have served for more than a decade in government on their probationary period lists, as they had recently started new roles.

While impacted employees are continuing to do their jobs, focusing on their duties has proven to be a difficult task amid all the tumult. A Justice Department employee expects to be let go, and the Energy supervisor, who was also included on the list, now fears for their own job.

Despite multiple requests for comment, Energy did not respond. The latest directive from OPM was first reported by Federal News Network.