BREAKING: Trump just fired thousands of EPA, Energy and Interior Dept. employees
Landmark has reviewed a termination letter sent to probationary EPA employees. Thousands of Interior and Energy Department employees have also been targeted, groups said.
(Editor’s note: Are you a federal employee who works on environmental or energy issues and want to talk about something that’s happening? Landmark has the secure messaging service Signal. Send us a message.)
Thousands of federal workers who work on environmental matters at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Energy Department, Interior Department and elsewhere were fired Friday as part of a Trump administration effort to cut the federal workforce across agencies, sources tell Landmark.
Sources told Landmark that emails were sent out to hundreds of probationary EPA employees on Friday afternoon.
The Center for Biological Diversity meanwhile said Friday that 2,300 Interior Department employees were also fired. Earthjustice said nearly 2,000 Energy Department employees have been fired since President Donald Trump took office and 3,400 Forest Service employees were dismissed.
The firings came after the U.S. Office of Personnel Management reportedly instructed various agencies to terminate employees in their probationary periods, which typically means workers who were hired within the past two years.
Landmark has reviewed a copy of one letter sent to EPA employees, which instructs employees to turn in badges, credit cards and other EPA property by 5 p.m. ET. The letter says the “Agency finds that you have failed to demonstrate fully your qualifications for continued employment.”
“If you believe that your termination was based on partisan political reasons or marital status, you have the right to appeal your termination to the U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board,” the letter states.
There are about 1,100 EPA employees who were hired within that two-year span including attorneys, sources said. Sources believe around 500-700 were likely terminated. (Other news agencies have reported the EPA said it fired 388 employees, but had previously said it fired 497).
The federal agencies didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
Lunacy.
The Reckless Purge: Firing Thousands Without a Plan
Leadership isn’t about destruction for the sake of optics. It isn’t about grand gestures that grab headlines but leave chaos in their wake. And yet, here we are—watching the mass firing of thousands of federal employees, with zero plan for how to replace the critical work they did.
This isn’t efficiency.
This isn’t reform.
This is self-sabotage on a national scale.
The cost of this reckless publicity stunt will far outweigh any short-term PR benefit. The narrative of “draining the swamp” or “saving the country” collapses under the weight of staggering incompetencewhen there’s no plan to fill the void left behind.
What Happens When Expertise is Erased?
For decades, the federal workforce has been a backbone of stability, ensuring the daily functions of government—regardless of which party holds power. These are not nameless bureaucrats sitting idly at desks. These are scientists, policy experts, national security analysts, air traffic controllers, financial regulators, disaster response coordinators, and public health officials.
Now, thousands of them are gone.
So what happens next?
• Social Security & Medicare delays – Processing claims and benefits doesn’t happen by itself. Cutting staff means seniors and disabled Americans will wait longer for the assistance they need.
• Disaster relief failure – Who will coordinate FEMA responses when the next hurricane, wildfire, or earthquake devastates a community?
• Regulatory collapse – Without oversight, corporations will run unchecked, environmental protections will vanish, and those like Elon Musk will take full advantage of the chaos.
• National security risks – Intelligence analysts don’t simply appear overnight. Gaps in counterterrorism, cyber defense, and military logistics could take years to rebuild—if they ever recover at all.
And let’s not forget the thousands of lawsuits, contract breaches, and financial penalties that will arise when fired employees contest their dismissals—or when government programs fail to meet their legal obligations.
The cost? Billions. The damage? Immeasurable.
Destroying to Rebuild… What, Exactly?
If there were a plan—a streamlined approach to reassign roles, retrain workers, and ensure continuity of essential functions—perhaps there would be room for debate. But this isn’t a plan—it’s a demolition.
Who takes over?
Are we outsourcing national security to unvetted private contractors? Will corporate executives step in to “regulate” themselves? Will loyalists with zero qualifications be installed into positions where competence should matter more than allegiance?
There is no strategy—just chaos for chaos’ sake.
This Isn’t “Draining the Swamp.” It’s Drowning the Country.
Tearing down institutions without a plan is not reform. It is deliberate destabilization.
For all the talk of “fighting corruption”, this purge ensures that those with the most power now have even fewer checks on their actions. The system isn’t being saved—it’s being set on fire.
And the ones who will suffer the most? The everyday citizens who rely on these institutions to function.
Public servants weren’t the problem. But the reckless destruction of government just might be.
If the goal is to dismantle democracy and rebuild something unrecognizable, then mission accomplished.
But if the goal is to serve the American people, then this is the gravest failure of leadership in modern history. 🌗✨