You’re …rehired? What we know about who is exempt from Donald Trump's mass firings
Despite President Donald Trump’s broad firings of federal workers, his administration has rolled back some terminations − often realizing after firing certain workers that their roles are key to protecting public health or safety.
The swiftly rehired employees include veterinarians treating the bird flu outbreak, people working on the nation's nuclear weapons program, and others who manage a hydroelectric dam in the Pacific Northwest.
"Any key positions that were eliminated are being identified and reinstated rapidly as agencies are streamlined to better serve the American people," Anna Kelly, White House deputy press secretary, told Reuters.
Meanwhile, for reasons that are unclear, some agency employees have been told they're not eligible for the government-wide buyout offer.
The administration has not provided a comprehensive list of who is subject to the firings, how many are being fired, and which positions specifically are exempt. But individual workers and unions have shared their stories.
Most of the firings appear to have targeted workers in education, transportation, small business services, national parks, forestry, veterans services, and environmental conservation. Others include 200 workers in airport security and 400 employees in the airspace industry who got the axe.
Law enforcement agencies have been mostly spared, except for the prosecutors and FBI agents who were fired or reassigned as punishment for investigating Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election and his handling of classified information.
The trend echoes the priorities that Trump outlined in a Feb. 11 executive order on workforce efficiency, which said that agency heads were allowed to exempt "any position they deem necessary to meet national security, homeland security, or public safety responsibilities" from a future layoff plan.
Some employees are exempt from the most recent rounds of firings, and others are having their terminations rescinded as the administration decides their work is too important to stop. Still others were unable to take an earlier offer to resign and have eight months paid time off.
Here is a look about what we know about the employees who are slated to stay in the Trump administration.
Bird flu workers
The Trump administration scrambled to rehire "several" fired employees who play a key role in the U.S. Department of Agriculture's response to bird flu, the agency said Tuesday in a written statement. Attempts to rescind the termination letters was first reported by NBC News.
Millions of birds in commercial flocks nationwide have been killed to prevent the spread of the highly pathogenic bird flu virus, which is deadly to poultry. The decimation of flocks in response to the disease is blamed for record egg prices and shortages. The virus has infected 68 people in the United States since the beginning of last year.
"Although several positions supporting (bird flu) were notified of their terminations over the weekend, we are working to swiftly rectify the situation and rescind those letters,” the agency said. The statement said the jobs are considered public safety positions and included veterinarians, animal health technicians, and emergency response workers.
Nuclear weapons staff
The administration also scrambled to rescind firings of hundreds of employees at an agency that oversees the nation's arsenal of nuclear weapons.
A spokesman for the Department of Energy, which the National Nuclear Security Administration falls under, told Paste BN fewer than 50 workers had their jobs terminated. But about 325 workers received notices late last week that they had been laid off, according to Reuters.
The agency is responsible for securing and disposing of nuclear waste, responding to nuclear and radiological emergencies, and serving the U.S. Navy with nuclear technology.
Indian Health Service
On Friday night, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. verbally rescinded the terminations of about 950 employees of the Indian Health Service, which provides health care to Indigenous communities, according to the indigenous-focused news publication ICT, formerly known as Indian Country Today.
“My father often complained that (Indian Health Service) was chronically understaffed and underfunded," Kennedy said in a statement to ICT. "President Trump wants me to rectify this sad history. Indians suffer the highest level of chronic disease of any demographic. (Indian Health Service) will be a priority over the next four years."
Veterans Affairs
The Department of Veterans affairs is working to reinstate people who worked on a crisis hotline for veterans, according to Sen. Tammy Duckworth, a Democrat and veteran from Illinois, who said she advocated for their reinstatement.
"These jobs and so many others should have never been at risk in the first place," Duckworth wrote on X.
Additionally, a social worker within the health care arm of the Department of Veteran Affairs, told National Public Radio that she attempted to accept the Trump administration's deferred resignation offer, but was told her position is exempt.
An information page about the deferred resignation package said that some agencies would specifically exclude positions from the offer, and said specifically that the buyout wouldn't apply to military personnel, the U.S. Postal Service, or people who work in immigration enforcement, national security, or public safety.
Bonneville Power Administration
About 30 workers who were fired from an agency that runs a hydroelectric dam in the Pacific Northwest have been rehired, according to Reuters. The agency, called the Bonneville Power Administration, originally fired about 200 people.
NASA employees in Houston
Employees of the Johnson Space Center, a Houston-based office of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, will be spared from impending layoffs, the Houston Chronicle reported Tuesday night. NASA did not respond to Paste BN's request for comment.
Internal Revenue Service
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent created an exemption for certain employees at the Internal Revenue Service who wanted to take a deferred resignation, according to Reuters. Taxpayer services workers, taxpayer advocates, and certain information technology workers are required to work through May 15 in order to be there through the tax filing season, Reuters reported.