A judge in Maryland has blocked for now the mass firings of probationary federal workers and ordered thousands of fired probationary workers to be reinstated, marking the second decision of its kind in a day.
The order from US District Judge James Bredar came late on Thursday in a lawsuit filed by 19 states and the District of Columbia against multiple federal agencies alleging the mass firings are illegal.
The states contend the Trump administration blindsided them by ignoring laws set out for large-scale layoffs, which already are having an impact on state governments as they try to help the suddenly jobless. At least 24,000 probationary employees have been terminated since President Donald Trump took office, the lawsuit alleges, though efforts by the judge to get an estimate from a government attorney at a hearing on Wednesday were unsuccessful.
The Trump administration argues that the states have no right to try and influence the federal government’s relationship with its own workers. Trump, a Republican, has said he is targeting fraud, waste and abuse in a bloated federal government.
A federal judge in San Francisco ordered the Trump administration to rehire thousands, if not tens of thousands, of probationary workers let go in mass firings across multiple agencies, blasting their tactics on Thursday as he slowed the new president’s dramatic downsizing of the federal government.
US District Judge William Alsup said that the terminations were directed by the Office of Personnel Management and its acting director, Charles Ezell, who lacked the authority to do so.
The administration immediately filed an appeal of the injunction with the Ninth Circuit Court. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt earlier on Thursday cast the ruling as an attempt to encroach on executive power to hire and fire employees. “The Trump Administration will immediately fight back against this absurd and unconstitutional order,” she said in a statement.
Alsup’s order tells the departments of Veterans Affairs, Agriculture, Defence, Energy, the Interior and the Treasury to immediately offer job reinstatement to employees terminated on or about February 13 and 14. He also directed the departments to report back within seven days with a list of probationary employees and an explanation of how the agencies complied with his order as to each person.
The temporary restraining order came in a lawsuit filed by a coalition of labour unions and organisations as the Republican administration moves to reduce the federal workforce.
“These mass-firings of federal workers were not just an attack on government agencies and their ability to function, they were also a direct assault on public lands, wildlife, and the rule of law,” said Erik Molvar, executive director of Western Watersheds Project, one of the plaintiffs.
Alsup expressed frustration with what he called the government’s attempt to sidestep laws and regulations governing a reduction in its workforce — which it is allowed to do — by firing probationary workers who lack protections and cannot appeal.
He was appalled that employees were told they were being fired for poor performance despite receiving glowing evaluations just months earlier.
“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 is a lie,” he said. “That should not have been done in our country.” Lawyers for the government maintain the mass firings were lawful because individual agencies reviewed and determined whether employees on probation were fit for continued employment.
But Alsup, who was appointed by President Bill Clinton, a Democrat, has found that difficult to believe. He planned to hold an evidentiary hearing on Thursday, but Ezell, the OPM acting director, did not appear to testify in court or even sit for a deposition, and the government retracted his written testimony.
“I know how we get at the truth, and you are not helping me get at the truth,” Alsup said to Kelsey Helland, an assistant US attorney.
The judge encouraged the government to appeal.
There are an estimated 200,000 probationary workers across federal agencies. They include entry-level employees but also workers who recently received a promotion.
About 15,000 are employed in California, providing services ranging from fire prevention to veterans’ care, according to the lawsuit filed by the coalition of labour unions and nonprofit organisations that represent parks, veterans and small businesses.
The plaintiffs said in their complaint that numerous agencies informed workers that the personnel office had ordered the terminations, with an order to use a template email informing workers their firing was for performance reasons. (AP) RC
