The US government began laying off thousands of employees in various government agencies last night as President Donald Trump and Elon Musk accelerated the "purge" of the federal bureaucracy, US media reported, citing union sources and employees.

The Department of Veterans Affairs, which provides health care for veterans, said it had laid off more than 1.000 employees who were on probation, and the U.S. Forest Service is expected to lay off more than 3.000 people.

In the past 48 hours, termination emails have been sent to employees across the federal government, mostly recently hired. They include employees at the Department of Education, the Small Business Administration, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the General Services Administration, which manages numerous federal buildings.

According to government data, about 280.000 civilian civil servants were hired less than two years ago, and most are still on temporary contracts, making it easier to fire.

Meanwhile, the US National Forest is expected to lay off 3.400 probationary employees at all levels of the agency, Politico reported, citing sources who said that firefighters would not be among the laid-offs.

A statement from the Department of Veterans Affairs said the layoffs "will save the department more than $98 million annually and redirect all of those resources back to the department's health care, benefits and services to its beneficiaries."

All contract employees at the U.S. government's Office of Human Resources Management were laid off last night and told in a group phone call to leave the agency's headquarters in Washington, two sources said.

When the layoffs began, a group of 14 US states filed a lawsuit in federal court in Washington, claiming that Trump had illegally appointed Musk, giving him "unchecked legal authority" without authorization from the US Congress.