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.

A federal judge in Washington has allowed President Trump’s mass firings of federal workers to move forward. U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper decided he could not grant a motion from unions representing the workers to temporarily block the layoffs.

The Trump administration can continue its mass firings of federal employees for now, a federal judge ruled on Thursday, rejecting a bid by a group of labor unions to halt President Donald Trump’s dramatic downsizing of the roughly 2.

Natalie Brand reports on the huge number of federal workers across the U.S. who have received termination notices this week.

The Defense Department announced Friday it will cut 5,400 probationary workers starting next week and freeze hiring. The U.S. officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized