Reports are trickling in from across the country about federal workers with good performance reviews being fired, and Oklahomans are no exception.
Robin Gibson started in September 2024 at the federal Children’s Bureau, an agency that “provides leadership in addressing and preventing child abuse and neglect.” After a 26-year career with the Oklahoma Department of Human Services, Gibson began building and monitoring state child welfare programs according to national guidelines.
“Our jobs are really about preventing government waste and excess government spending, and making sure states are adhering to the federal regulations to get their federal money. There’s not waste there, it’s about preventing that,” said Gibson.
Boosters say President Donald Trump’s sweeping federal workforce reduction will cut costs as the United States faces trillions in debt, though critics say he’s illegally dismantling the federal government to solidify himself as “king.”
Gibson was fired via letter last week. The University of Oklahoma grad said her supervisor called her on Friday to let her know the notice would arrive later that afternoon, but it didn’t come until Saturday. It said Gibson’s performance had “not been adequate to justify future employment with the agency.”
But a Jan. 28 performance review seen by KWGS classified Gibson’s performance as a probationary worker — someone employed at CB less than a year — as meeting expectations.
“I felt like that was really where I wanted to be, achieving expected results, because I was right on track and I anticipated my next evaluation to be achieving more than expected results,” said Gibson.
Gibson plans to appeal her firing to the Merit Systems Protection Board because she doesn’t want coworkers or others to think she abandoned them without explanation.
Gibson has company in Oklahoma, although how many federal workers have been fired in the state is unclear. The Oklahoman reports an unknown number of Federal Aviation Administration workers were fired via email Friday. The United States Department of Agriculture, the Interior Department, the Department of Veterans Affairs and more are getting rid of thousands of probationary employees.
