The Trump administration’s swift, sweeping cuts to the federal workforce is set to derail the livelihoods of potentially thousands of military families.
The turmoil within the military community caused by the recent firings of probationary employees, looming terminations and a rolling series of deadlines for federal employees to return to work should not be surprising.
For decades now, the federal government has marketed itself as the employer of choice for military spouses, who are unemployed at five times the national rate despite being more educated than their civilian spouse counterparts. --- Military spouses and their families move involuntarily every two to three years, on average. As a result, it’s not unusual for those who work in the federal government to frequently change positions or even organizations within their agencies.
Many are perpetually probationary employees — the category of worker the Trump administration targeted in its recent first round of firings.
They can be probationary employees even when they have spent years and years in federal service.