Donald Trump’s administration laid off 170 employees at the National Science Foundation in February as part of a government-wide staff reduction. Critics say the cuts, which included artificial intelligence specialists,

Judge slams 'significant chaos' that's become Uncle Sam's standard operating procedure The US government's National Science Foundation has reinstated most of its cadre of probationary employees after laying them off en masse last month.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) announced Monday that it is reinstating dozens of probationary employees that the Trump administration fired last month. Why it matters: The reversal comes after a federal judge ordered the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to rescind instructions to several federal agencies to fire probationary employees.