Less than a month after packing up his belongings and relocating to from Texas to Des Moines for work, Ali Syed was terminated from his position as a collection representative at the Internal Revenue Service, or IRS.
Syed received notification of his termination on Feb. 21. He was in a probationary period, a designated timeframe at the beginning of employment during which an employer evaluates a new employee’s performance.
Syed was one of about 6,000 IRS employees laid off in February around the country — eliminating approximately six percent of the agency’s workforce of 10,000 employees, according to The New York Times.
An email shared with The New York Times showed IRS managers asking employees to come into the office in the days following the email.
“Under an executive order, IRS has been directed to terminate probationary employees who were not deemed critical to filing season,” the email to The New York Times read. “We don’t have many details that we are permitted to share, but this is all tied to compliance with the executive order.”
The executive order refers to one signed on Feb. 19 by President Donald Trump, “ensuring lawful governance and implementing the president’s ‘Department of Government Efficiency’ deregulatory initiative.”
Federal agencies began nationwide layoffs starting in February, per Trump’s implementation of the Department of Governmental Efficiency, or DOGE, headed by Tesla CEO Elon Musk. The layoffs first targeted probationary employees, but Trump’s cuts to the federal workforce have not ended there.
According to Farmonaut, a government-approved farming database, estimates suggest over 200 workers have been terminated in Iowa.
No official count has been reported as to how many workers have been laid off nationwide, but USA Today estimates the numbers surpassing 100,000.
While some of these employees have since been offered their jobs back, including Syed, the looming question of job stability in the federal government remains a stressor on these employees.
Those who were terminated were employed by agencies including the IRS, Centers for Disease Control and Protection, or CDC, the Department of Veterans Affairs, or VA, and various other agencies across the state.
Syed said he moved to Iowa for work, and now he has nothing keeping him here, facing financial stress in a strange place.
“I ask the government a simple question: Is this how America will be great again? By throwing hardworking people out of jobs without a second thought?” Syed said. “Where are the rights of any citizens? If even government employees can be treated this way, what hope is left for others?”
A constantly changing mess
Charlie Wishman, president of the Iowa Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO, helped organize a rally at the Iowa State Capitol in February following the first round of layoffs, protesting against the federal terminations.
At the rally, The Des Moines Register reported over 100 individuals showed up to fight for the rights of federal workers. Those in attendance were fueled by an email sent out by Musk on Feb. 22 stating that those still employed must submit a detailed account of their previous weeks’ work or face unemployment.
Musk also shared a warning about the email on the social media platform X, which he owns.
“Consistent with President @realDonaldTrump’s instructions, all federal employees will shortly receive an email requesting to understand what they got done last week,” he wrote. “Failure to respond will be taken as a resignation.”
Wishman said the terminations have caused widespread chaos and confusion across Iowa.
“Whether you’re a recipient of federal services — which everyone is — or whether you’re serving people on that, it’s just been such a mess, and it changes daily,” he said.
Brianna McNulty joined the CDC’s Public Health Associate Program for Recent Graduates at the Coralville CDC building in September 2023, a two-year, boots-on-the-ground, paid training program, which she was set to graduate from in June 2025.
On Feb. 14, McNulty became a victim of what CDC employees are calling “The Valentine’s Day Massacre,” in which thousands of individuals were terminated via email as a result of DOGE instructions. McNulty later received an email rescinding her termination, leading to more confusion.
McNulty — who moved to Iowa from Pennsylvania to participate in the program — said she would have never chosen to live in the state had she not been placed by the program at the Coralville location. But she says she has loved her time here, especially as a part of the Iowa Cancer Consortium.
“A lot of the associates who have been assigned to Iowa locations before have never come to Iowa and have never been Iowans,” she said.
Because of her work, she said it is unfortunate how much these terminations will impact the world of public health.
“Iowa has the second highest cancer incidence rate in the country — right behind Kentucky — so the need for cancer control workers is extreme. It’s very high,” she said. “Any hands out of the pool right now and not working on this problem is just an issue.”
Terri Wollenberg was only 93 days away from being off probationary status at the Cedar Rapids Vet Center, where she worked to provide behavioral health services to veterans, when she was terminated.
As a former military member, she said the job to her was a way to give back and serve as a civilian. It wasn’t ever about the money, she said, but the people.
“I fell in love with the job. It was a great job,” she said.
Wollenberg said the termination felt impersonal; the letter appeared in her inbox after working hours on Feb. 13. She didn’t read it until the next day when she arrived at her office.
“I didn’t see it until I walked in the next morning, and I had been fired, effective immediately,” she said. “I saw the Washington Post article that said probation employees would be let go. So, I basically learned about it through a newspaper article.”
In a statement to the DI a spokesperson for U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson, R-Iowa, said DOGE works to strengthen core government functions and services “by cutting out waste and eliminating bureaucratic red tape that delays services for Iowans.”
“DOGE has uncovered a ridiculous amount of government waste and resources spent on woke priorities that take the focus away from the services Iowans need and rely on,” the spokesperson said in the statement.
Wollenberg, a constituent of Hinson’s, said she felt hurt by her representative’s comments.
“For our senators and our representatives to see us as waste and fraud, when we went every single day, when we gave and gave and gave — that’s a huge hit,” Wollenberg said.
Wollenberg said the terminations came as a huge shock, both to her and her former colleagues, who she said were continually meeting and exceeding expectations.
“I want to say we don’t take it personally, but we do,” she said.
Federal judges in Maryland and San Francisco have both ruled that Trump must reinstate the thousands of laid-off employees, claiming they were terminated unlawfully.
Despite the rulings, the Trump administration appeared before the Supreme Court on the morning of March 24, asking the justices to pause the orders.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement that the judges’ attempts are unconstitutional and impede on the executive branch’s power of hiring and firing.
“The president has the authority to exercise the power of the entire executive branch – singular district court judges cannot abuse the power of the entire judiciary to thwart the President’s agenda,” Leavitt said in a statement. “If a federal district court judge would like executive powers, they can try and run for President themselves.”
Uncertainty about the future
On March 19, Syed, the collection representative for the IRS, received an email immediately reinstating his position at the IRS. The email, which Syed shared with The Daily Iowan, was sent in compliance with two separate judicial orders.
“On Thursday, March 13, 2025, the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland ordered 18 federal agencies, including the Department of the Treasury, to reinstate by Monday, March 17, 2025, certain probationary workers who were recently terminated. Also on March 13, 2025, in a separate case, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California ruled that the notice and termination of these probationary employees was unlawful and ordered six federal agencies, including the Department of the Treasury, to immediately offer reinstatement to these terminated employees,” the email read.
RELATED: Iowa City resident among thousands of federal employees fired in recent weeks
Despite reinstatement, the email placed Syed on administrative leave, ordering him not to “report to duty or perform any work until receiving further guidance.”
“At this point, the situation still feels like it’s in limbo because, despite being reinstated, we have not yet returned to work,” he said. “During this period, I applied for rental assistance twice, but my case was rejected both times. This entire situation has been a very painful and stressful experience for me, as there has been no real support available so far.”
Syed said he faces the decision of whether or not to return to Texas, effectively breaking his yearlong lease in Des Moines, in addition to the other financial hardships the terminations have caused.
After receiving notification of her termination, McNulty was able to secure a new job at Pennsylvania State University, where she graduated from in 2023. Though she said she enjoyed working for the CDC, returning to federal work was not a secure option.
“I did make the personal decision that trying to get back into federal work is off the table for the next few years, just with how confusing the government and the administration has been,” she said. “I just don’t know if federal work right now is a secure position like it once was.”
To McNulty, the back-and-forth decisions of the government have felt like a toxic relationship, she said. Just weeks after receiving the initial notice, the Trump administration rescinded the termination of some CDC staff members, including McNulty.
The same morning McNulty received the email that her termination had been rescinded, she had signed her lease and job offer at The Pennsylvania State University.
“Now, all of a sudden, you’re saying ‘Welcome back.’ It’s confusing, it’s just a slap in the face, and it’s gross,” she said. “The way I’ve approached it is that this whole experience is like an abusive relationship where we were constantly worried what was going to happen.”
In addition to being terminated, Wollenberg said the state of Iowa cutting unemployment benefits has given her even more of a panicked feeling.
Effective July 3, 2022, the maximum amount of unemployment benefits fell from 26 to 16 weeks.
“It’s not like I want to live for the rest of my life on unemployment benefits, not at all — it’s to bridge a gap,” Wollenberg said. “But to cut that even further gives me less of an opportunity and more of a panicked feeling that I’ve got to get back out there. I’ve got to take a job. I’ve got to get working.”
Elinor Levin, D-Iowa City, said she is uncertain how the widespread terminations will impact the state of Iowa but is certain people will begin to realize just how wide the scope of federal employees is.
“What is frustrating or concerning to me is that, all of a sudden, people in states all across the country are going to get a feel for how federal government workers are not all located in Washington, D.C.,” she said. “They’re located all across the country, serving their communities.”
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, there were about 18,600 federal government employees in Iowa as of December 2024.
Wishman, Iowa Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO president, said the implications of the layoffs say a lot about the separation of powers granted in the U.S. Constitution.
According to the U.S. Constitution, Congress has the “power of the purse,” meaning they control all the funds and how they are allocated. Wishman said they are handing too much of their power away, causing incredible destruction.
“They’re supposed to be doing all these things — not some unelected person who is appointed into some special role,” he said. “What this does to the balance of power between the three branches of government — it feels like congressional negligence in the House and Senate on the Republican side, that they’re ceding a lot of power away.”
Wishman also said the issue lies deeper than just getting rid of or reducing the federal workforce — it’s about getting rid of civil service and putting people in charge who are loyal to a certain party.
“That’s not the way for any government to function. I know Republicans, Democrats, and independents who work at all levels of government, who are just dedicated to making sure the train runs on time and works for the American people,” he said. “It shouldn’t be about loyalty or who you voted for.”
Wishman said in the midst of the terminations, it is important for all workers, whether they are unionized or not, to keep standing up to the bullies.
“There’s hope. Keep fighting back,” he said. “Every single thing matters.”