The Trump administration broadened its effort to terminate thousands of probationary workers on Thursday, instructing agencies on a call to move forward with the layoffs.

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump's administration began a mass firing of federal workers Thursday. Office of Personnel Management officials met with agency leaders and advised them to dismiss probationary employees, according to a person familiar with the matter.

The Trump administration has intensified its sweeping efforts to shrink the size of the federal workforce by ordering agencies to lay off nearly all probationary employees.

Thousands of federal workers across multiple US agencies, from the Small Business Administration to the Forest Service, were fired this week.

The Trump administration on Thursday intensified its sweeping efforts to shrink the size of the federal workforce, the nation's largest employer, by ordering agencies to lay off nearly all probationary employees who had not yet gained civil service protection — potentially affecting hundreds of thousands of workers.

The Trump administration over the past two days has fired thousands of federal workers with jobs reportedly ranging from wildfire prevention to medical research. Why it matters: A mass firing on this scale is unprecedented — and will likely vastly reshape the way the federal government works,