Many government workers being cut are those with fewer protections. They are relatively new in their current jobs, but often have years of experience.

The Merit Systems Protection Board ordered a 45-day stay of the terminations, a move that could have implications for the thousands of employees fired in recent weeks.

A quasi-judicial board has temporarily blocked the firing of six federal employees who were terminated as the Trump administration directed agencies to oust probationary staffers — an early determination that the widespread firings may be illegal.