Firing federal employees was swift. Unwinding the terminations is proving complicated

People demonstrate during a protest against federal employee layoffs at Yosemite National Park, California on March 1, 2025. The National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA) estimates 1,000 US National Park Service employees who were on one-year probationary periods were laid off. About 3,400 employees of the US Forest Service were among the cuts too, according to multiple US media reports. The cuts were part of the work of the newly-created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), led by billionaire Elon Musk, as part of a declared effort to reduce public spending by dismantling the federal bureaucracy. (Photo by Laure Andrillon / AFP) (Photo by LAURE ANDRILLON/AFP via Getty Images)