Regulator overseeing auto and pipeline safety impacted by layoffs
The layoffs appear to be focusing on employees who have been with the company for less than a year.
TroibNews 
Last week, workers at the agencies tasked with overseeing the safety of automobile manufacturers — including Elon Musk’s Tesla — and pipeline safety were laid off, according to four sources familiar with the situation.
These layoffs appear to primarily affect individuals with less than a year of service and align with a broader initiative led by Musk and his team to cut costs and reduce the federal workforce across various agencies.
Over the weekend, reports emerged indicating that hundreds of employees, including technical staff supporting air traffic control operations, were terminated at the Federal Aviation Administration. The sources, who requested anonymity to speak freely, noted that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the Pipelines and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, the Maritime Administration, and the DOT's office of the undersecretary also experienced layoffs.
“To my understanding it’s pretty indiscriminate across all modal agencies at the department,” said one former DOT employee to PMG.
The Department of Transportation (DOT) did not respond to multiple requests for comment regarding these layoffs.
Reports suggest that some layoffs at NHTSA began on the evening of February 14, as indicated by a termination email seen by PMG. This memo, from Jack Danielson, NHTSA’s executive director, cites guidance from the Office of Personnel Management and asserts that until a probationary period concludes, "a probationer has the burden to demonstrate why it is in the public interest for the Government to finalize their appointment to the civil service.” It further states that NHTSA has determined “based on your performance you have not demonstrated that your further employment at the Department of Transportation — NHTSA would be in the public interest.”
Ian O'Dowd, a traffic safety researcher with NHTSA for under a year, was among those laid off. His research focused on impaired driving, addressing issues such as drunk driving and driving under the influence of cannabis.
“Along with so many others in the federal service, I received an email Friday evening that said I was being removed from my role as a Research Psychologist at NHTSA with no notice or severance. I'm actively looking for new opportunities in social science research, ideally remote and/or based in the Twin Cities,” O’Dowd wrote in a LinkedIn post.
He mentioned that in recent weeks, “have been incredibly difficult mental health-wise” and urged his LinkedIn network to check in on others in the federal government.
O'Dowd declined to comment further, directing inquiries back to his LinkedIn posting.
At the Maritime Administration (MARAD), many probationary employees were dismissed from roles lacking a clear national security connection, according to two former DOT employees who spoke on condition of anonymity due to media restrictions.
Additionally, significant layoffs impacted the office of the undersecretary and PHMSA, where many probationary workers were let go. A former employee revealed that all administrative assistants in PHMSA’s eight regional offices were also terminated.
In a post on X late Monday, DOT Secretary Sean Duffy stated that fewer than 400 FAA employees were removed as part of a probationary purge at the agency.
Sam Ogozalek contributed to this report.
Frederick R Cook for TROIB News
These layoffs appear to primarily affect individuals with less than a year of service and align with a broader initiative led by Musk and his team to cut costs and reduce the federal workforce across various agencies.
Over the weekend, reports emerged indicating that hundreds of employees, including technical staff supporting air traffic control operations, were terminated at the Federal Aviation Administration. The sources, who requested anonymity to speak freely, noted that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the Pipelines and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, the Maritime Administration, and the DOT's office of the undersecretary also experienced layoffs.
“To my understanding it’s pretty indiscriminate across all modal agencies at the department,” said one former DOT employee to PMG.
The Department of Transportation (DOT) did not respond to multiple requests for comment regarding these layoffs.
Reports suggest that some layoffs at NHTSA began on the evening of February 14, as indicated by a termination email seen by PMG. This memo, from Jack Danielson, NHTSA’s executive director, cites guidance from the Office of Personnel Management and asserts that until a probationary period concludes, "a probationer has the burden to demonstrate why it is in the public interest for the Government to finalize their appointment to the civil service.” It further states that NHTSA has determined “based on your performance you have not demonstrated that your further employment at the Department of Transportation — NHTSA would be in the public interest.”
Ian O'Dowd, a traffic safety researcher with NHTSA for under a year, was among those laid off. His research focused on impaired driving, addressing issues such as drunk driving and driving under the influence of cannabis.
“Along with so many others in the federal service, I received an email Friday evening that said I was being removed from my role as a Research Psychologist at NHTSA with no notice or severance. I'm actively looking for new opportunities in social science research, ideally remote and/or based in the Twin Cities,” O’Dowd wrote in a LinkedIn post.
He mentioned that in recent weeks, “have been incredibly difficult mental health-wise” and urged his LinkedIn network to check in on others in the federal government.
O'Dowd declined to comment further, directing inquiries back to his LinkedIn posting.
At the Maritime Administration (MARAD), many probationary employees were dismissed from roles lacking a clear national security connection, according to two former DOT employees who spoke on condition of anonymity due to media restrictions.
Additionally, significant layoffs impacted the office of the undersecretary and PHMSA, where many probationary workers were let go. A former employee revealed that all administrative assistants in PHMSA’s eight regional offices were also terminated.
In a post on X late Monday, DOT Secretary Sean Duffy stated that fewer than 400 FAA employees were removed as part of a probationary purge at the agency.
Sam Ogozalek contributed to this report.
Frederick R Cook for TROIB News
