By Chris Prentice, Douglas Gillison and Lawrence Delevingne
NEW YORK (Reuters) -U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission lawyers may be exempt from a demand by the Trump administration asking for a list of staff who are still on probation, according to a memo seen by Reuters, in a sign that they may get a reprieve from any mass firings.
Republican President Donald Trump has used his early days in office to shrink, purge and remake the U.S. federal government, and federal agency heads have been asked to identify employees on probationary periods, or who have served less than two years. Such employees are easier to fire.
The SEC is a key agency, employing about 5,000 people who are responsible for policing the $110 trillion U.S. capital markets and promoting capital formation. It was unclear how many staff members counted as lawyers. Reuters could not ascertain how many probationary staff are at the SEC.
The Office of Personnel Management, which has sought lists of probationary employees at federal agencies, has offered guidance that attorneys currently serving a trial period do not need to be included, according to an SEC memo dated February 5 seen by Reuters.
The memo, sent by the SEC’s Office of Human Resources, also reminded all SEC employees that they have until 11:59 p.m. on Thursday (0459 GMT Friday) to agree to a deferred resignation program that OPM offered to employees on January 28 – a deadline which was delayed at least until Monday by a federal judge on Thursday.
The OPM’s buyout offer is part of Trump’s and Elon Musk’s push to shrink the federal workforce. Trump deputized his billionaire adviser Musk to lead the overhaul, which has sparked protests and accusations by opposition Democrats that the world’s richest person is taking over the government.
The SEC declined to comment on the personnel matters, while OPM did not immediately respond to a query submitted by Reuters.
The agency was caught off guard by the resignation program. SEC’s Chief Operating Officer Ken Johnson said in a Jan. 29 memo to all staff seen by Reuters that the agency had first learned about the deferred resignation program when employee notices were distributed, and was “seeking further clarification about aspects of the program.”
The White House says it is following through on Trump’s campaign promise to cut wasteful spending and slim down a bureaucracy that many conservatives see as left-leaning and unresponsive to the president’s agenda.
(Reporting by Chris Prentice, Douglas Gillison and Lawrence Delevingne; Editing by Megan Davies, Marguerita Choy and Muralikumar Anantharaman)
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