FTC removes around a dozen staff

Around a dozen employees at the Federal Trade Commission were dismissed on Friday, sources familiar with the proceedings told Nextgov/FCW.

Staff at the FTC’s Bureau of Competition, Bureau of Consumer Protection, Office of Public Affairs and Office of Technology were impacted by the terminations. 

The personnel changes at the FTC follow sweeping terminations across the federal government as part of the Trump administration’s plan to downsize the federal workforce, beginning at the probationary level.

A federal court restraining order issued in California by Judge William Alsup Thursday found that the Office of Personnel Management does not have the authority to order other agencies to terminate employees. OPM retroactively edited its probationary firing guidance Tuesday to clarify that it was not ordering agencies to fire probationary employees.

The FTC press office declined to comment when reached for this story.