The Trump administration must immediately rehire tens of thousands of probationary federal employees that were terminated from multiple agencies including the Department of Defense, Veterans Affairs, Energy, Agriculture, Interior and Treasury, a federal judge ruled on Thursday.
California District Court Judge William Alsup said the Trump administration had “unlawfully” conducted a mass firing of probationary workers – typically employees who have been in a job for two years or less – through a decree made by the Office of Personnel Management.
Calling the government’s actions a “gimmick” and a “sham,” Judge Alsup ordered the six agencies to rehire those workers and extended a temporary injunction prohibiting the Office of Personnel Management from issuing guidance about whether workers can be terminated.
“It is 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.
It’s the latest legal blow dealt to President Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk as they attempt to drastically reduce the federal workforce in an effort to cut government spending.
But while the mass firing of probationary workers was considered “unlawful,” Judge Alsup clarified that agencies may still conduct a reductions in force so long as it follows proper protocol.
“If it’s done right, there can be a reduction in force within an agency, that has to be true,” Judge Alsup said.
This will not impact Thursday’s deadline for federal agencies to submit their plans for mass layoffs to the White House and Office of Personnel Management. That directive arose from the Department of Government Efficiency’s recommendation to eliminate “waste, fraud and abuse” within agencies while also significantly downsizing the federal workforce.
The ruling came after a heated hearing in which Judge Alsup criticized leaders in the Office of Personnel Management for failing to show up for the evidentiary hearing.
“You will not bring the people in here to be cross-examined,” Judge Alsup told lawyers from the Department of Justice. “You’re afraid to do so because you know cross-examination would reveal the truth.”
Judge Alsup accused lawyers for the government of trying to avoid giving honest answers to the court about the mass firings by not giving they’re full cooperation with the evidentiary hearing.
Thursday’s ruling stems from a lawsuit brought by unions representing tens of thousands of federal employees. Lawyers representing the unions argued the mass firings had devastating effects on agencies, probationary employees as well as career civil servants.
