There are about 645 probationary employees at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard who are anxiously awaiting news of whether their positions are among those being eliminated in a purge of the federal workforce.

The Pentagon's announcement last week that it plans to lay off 5,400 probationary employees across the country put workers at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard on edge.

On Monday afternoon, Naval Support Activity (NSA), Portsmouth received a report of a suspicious package at around 4 p.m., a Norfolk Naval Shipyard spokesperson said. NSA, Portsmouth and Norfolk Naval Shipyard initiated a base-wide lockdown "out of an abundance of caution,