Federal Judge Blocks Trump’s Effort to Cut Federal Workforce, Orders Rehiring of Fired Employees
A federal judge has ruled that the Trump administration must reinstate thousands of recently fired federal employees, halting efforts to reduce the size of the federal workforce.
U.S. District Judge William Alsup in San Francisco issued the order Thursday, siding with labor unions and advocacy groups that challenged the firings. The terminations, which affected six federal agencies, were part of an initiative spearheaded by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) under the Trump administration.
At least 30,000 probationary employees lost their jobs, with the administration citing performance issues as the reason, according to The Guardian. However, many of the dismissed workers and union representatives disputed that claim, pointing to positive performance evaluations.
During the court hearing, Alsup slammed the administration’s justification, calling it a “lie” and accusing officials of obstructing efforts to uncover the truth.
Alsup ruled that OPM lacked the legal authority to order the mass terminations and rejected the administration’s explanation that the employees were let go for poor performance.
“It is sad, a sad day when our government would fire some good employee and say it was based on performance when they know good and well that’s a lie,” Alsup said in court, according to the outlet.
The affected agencies include the Departments of Defense, Agriculture, Energy, Interior, Treasury and Veterans Affairs, according to CBS News. The ruling also highlighted Trump’s previous actions, including the removal of former Special Counsel Hampton Dellinger and efforts to oust members of the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB), as part of a broader strategy to limit oversight of federal employment decisions.
The lawsuit, filed by labor unions and other advocacy groups, argued that the mass terminations violated the Administrative Procedure Act and congressional hiring and firing regulations. The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), one of the plaintiffs, claimed that OPM’s own actions demonstrated an acknowledgment that the firings were unlawful.
“OPM’s revision of its Jan. 20 memo is a clear admission that it unlawfully directed federal agencies to carry out mass terminations of probationary employees – which aligns with Judge Alsup’s recent decision in our lawsuit challenging these illegal firings,” the union said in a statement, per The Guardian.
Before Alsup’s ruling, the Department of Justice withdrew a declaration from Charles Ezell, the acting head of OPM and declined to make him available to testify in court. The judge sharply criticized this move, accusing the administration of obstructing the legal process and withholding critical information.
Alsup repeatedly expressed frustration over the government’s refusal to produce key officials for questioning, calling the situation a “sham” multiple times.
“I know how we get at the truth, and you’re not helping me,” Alsup told Kelsey Helland, a Justice Department attorney representing the administration, according to CBS News.
The judge ruled that OPM had, in fact, directed agencies to fire the employees, contradicting the administration’s claims that agency heads acted independently. He rejected the argument that press releases announcing the terminations demonstrated agency-led decision-making.
The Trump administration is expected to appeal the decision, which could delay the reinstatement of the fired employees. Meanwhile, a separate case involving Trump’s removal of an MSPB board member, Cathy Harris, has also led to legal pushback, with another federal judge ruling that she must be reinstated.
Alsup suggested that Trump’s efforts to remove oversight officials were part of a broader strategy to weaken protections for federal employees, preventing them from appealing wrongful terminations.
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