Letter to Congress on Probationary Employees
The Honorable Mike Johnson, Speaker of the House, U.S. House of Representatives, Capitol Building, H-232, Washington, DC 20515
The Honorable Jim Jordan, Chairman, House Committee on the Judiciary, 2138 Rayburn H.O.B., Washington, DC 20515
The Honorable Rick Crawford, Chairman, House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, Capitol Visitor Center, HVC-304, Washington, DC 20515
The Honorable John Thune, Senate Majority Leader, Capitol Building, S-221, Washington, DC 20510
The Honorable Charles Grassley, Chairman, Senate Committee on the Judiciary, 224 Dirksen Senate Office Building, Washington, DC 20510
The Honorable Thomas Cotton, Chairman, Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, 211 Hart Senate Office Building, Washington, DC 20510
The Honorable Hakeem Jeffries, House Minority Leader, U.S. House of Representatives, Capitol Building, H-204, Washington, DC 20515
The Honorable Jamie Raskin, Ranking Member, House Committee on the Judiciary, 2138 Rayburn H.O.B., Washington, DC 20515
The Honorable Jim Himes, Ranking Member, House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, Capitol Visitor Center, HVC-304, Washington, DC 20515
The Honorable Chuck Schumer, Senate Minority Leader, Capitol Building, S-230, Washington, DC 20510
The Honorable Richard Durbin, Ranking Member, Senate Committee on the Judiciary, 224 Dirksen Senate Office Building, Washington, DC 20510
The Honorable Mark Warner, Ranking Member, Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, 211 Hart Senate Office Building, Washington, DC 20510
Re: Concerns Regarding Special Agents in Probationary Periods
Dear Speaker Johnson, Majority Leader Thune, Minority Leader Jeffries, Minority Leader Schumer, and Chairmen of the House and Senate Judiciary and Intelligence committees:
I am the President of the FBI Agents Association (FBIAA), which represents over 14,000 active and retired FBI Special Agents. Our mission is to safeguard the careers, welfare, and integrity of rank-and-file Special Agents, enabling them to effectively protect the American public.
I write today to express urgent concerns regarding a memorandum issued by the Acting Director of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) on January 20, 2025. This memorandum, titled “Guidance on Probationary Periods, Administrative Leave, and Details,” mandates that federal agencies identify all employees on probationary periods and assess their retention. Currently, nearly 1,000 FBI Special Agents—approximately 10% of our Special Agent workforce—are now finishing their mandatory probationary periods while actively engaged in critical field operations.
Importantly, “probationary” status for a Special Agent refers to the one to two years following a detailed background investigation and extensive training at the FBI Academy at Quantico. This training includes field operations, legal instruction, tactical training, interview and interrogation techniques, deadly force, and firearms proficiency training. For every new Special Agent, this background check and training costs approximately $300,000. For nearly one thousand Agents, this means $300 million invested and potentially lost if they are terminated.
Right now, Special Agents in probationary status are risking their lives in locations spread across the country to serve warrants, conduct surveillance on gangs and narcotics traffickers, stop threats to national security, and protect vulnerable populations from predators. Displacing these rank-and-file public servants would create a gap in the FBI workforce that could be devastating to the FBI’s mission—one that would take approximately twenty years to fill with new Special Agents. The combination of losing Special Agents working cases now as probationary employees and creating a long-term weakness in the FBI workforce would jeopardize ongoing and future investigations and put our nation and its people in unnecessary danger for many years to come.
The FBIAA fully supports efforts to improve efficiency within the federal government. However, such improvements should not compromise public safety. The principles outlined in President Trump’s federal personnel policies emphasize the importance of retaining employees who play vital roles in national security and public safety—roles that Special Agents fulfill. For instance, the joint guidance from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and OPM clarifies that hiring freezes do not apply to positions related to national security and public safety. This principle should extend to probationary employees, ensuring that Special Agents are retained regardless of their status.
We urge you to work with President Trump to ensure that federal personnel policies do not hinder the FBI’s mission, and that Special Agents completing their probationary periods do not face termination or placement on administrative leave solely due to their probationary status. In these challenging times, marked by escalating criminal and terrorist threats, it is imperative that we retain these dedicated professionals to safeguard our nation’s security.
Sincerely,
Natalie Bara
President, FBIAA
