According to two sources who are familiar with the matter and an email that was seen by, the Trump administration is in the process of reclassifying some workers to a new category of jobs with less protections.

Sources said the moves are being made at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and Department of Energy. This is the first indication that the Trump administration has followed through with a plan announced on his first day of office to reclassify tens of thousand government employees to facilitate layoffs and to remove career civil servants who may be opposed to its policies.

It wasn't immediately clear whether reclassifications had begun at other agencies, or how many NOAA and DOE employees would be reclassified.

The email that was sent to employees at NOAA's Fisheries Branch on Tuesday afternoon stated that the agency will soon notify those who are on the preliminary list of reclassifications submitted to the Department of Commerce which oversees NOAA.

Emily Menashes, acting assistant administrator, said in an email that the list could change and other workers might be added. She also stated there was no more information about the timeline of reclassifying employees.

She wrote, "I am aware that there are many concerns and uncertainties about Schedule Policy/Career. I want to provide you with the best information available at this time," in an email referring to job reclassifications.

According to a source who is familiar with the situation, some DOE staff have been informed that they will also be reclassified.

A NOAA spokeswoman said that the agency doesn't discuss personnel issues, while DOE didn't immediately respond to an inquiry for comment.

The majority of the 2.2 millions federal employees are employed in career positions, which are not linked to any administration and are only fired for good cause.

On January 20, Trump signed an executive ordering creating a new category of federal employees called "schedule policies/careers" who can be fired as they please. The executive order noted that federal career employees had in the past resisted the White House's policies and undermined them.

In January, two unions representing federal employees sued the administration to try to slow down its efforts to reclassify up to 50,000 federal employees. They argued that it was a political attempt to politicize federal workers.

The email sent to the fisheries staff stated that NOAA employees in their new category would still be career staff and not political appointees. However, they would have to support the agenda of the administration.

According to a source with knowledge of the situation, the NOAA staff that received notification of their inclusion on the preliminary list were supervisory researchers from offices such as the National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service, Oceanic and Atmospheric Research, National Ocean Service, and Office of Marine and Aviation Operations.

Trump tried to reclassify federal workers after his first term. Russell Vought supported this effort, the director of his Office of Management and Budget at the time. (Reporting and editing by Richard Valdmanis, Chizu Nomiyama and Leah Douglas)

(source: Reuters)