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.

President Donald Trump is starting mass layoffs of federal employees while undermining avenues for federal workers to appeal their firing, leaving them with limited legal options.

The Trump administration is planning widespread layoffs among the federal workforce soon, leaving employees who don’t accept its deferred resignation offer at risk of losing their jobs, two Trump administration officials told CNN.