In San Francisco, a federal judge issued an order mandating the Trump administration to reinstate a significant number of probationary workers dismissed in mass firings from various federal agencies. This decision comes as a response to administrative efforts to substantially downsize the federal government. The judge, William Alsup, criticized these tactics, stating the terminations were wrongly directed by the Office of Personnel Management’s acting director, Charles Ezell, who lacked the appropriate authority.
The White House, through Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, swiftly challenged the ruling. Leavitt framed the order as an overreach into executive powers concerning employee management, pledging that the administration would seek to overturn the decision.
Judge Alsup’s order demands that several departments, including Veterans Affairs, Agriculture, Defense, Energy, Interior, and Treasury, immediately offer to reinstate affected employees terminated around mid-February. Additionally, these departments are required to provide a detailed report within a week, listing the probationary workers and detailing their compliance with the order for each individual.
This ruling is the result of a lawsuit initiated by a coalition of labor unions and organizations, as the administration attempts to streamline the federal workforce. Erik Molvar, executive director of Western Watersheds Project, one of the plaintiffs, criticized the mass dismissals as an assault not only on federal agencies but also on public lands and legal protocols.
Alsup expressed his displeasure with the administration’s attempt to bypass established laws regarding workforce reductions. He found it troubling that employees, who had received positive performance evaluations recently, were terminated under claims of poor performance. He lamented the false pretexts used for firing decent workers, arguing it goes against the nation’s principles.
Government lawyers, however, defended the legality of the firings, arguing that individual agencies assessed the probationary workers before deciding on their continued employment. Nonetheless, Alsup, appointed by Democratic President Bill Clinton, remained skeptical about these claims. He had arranged an evidentiary hearing to further examine the situation but was met with non-cooperation from Ezell, the OPM’s acting director, who neither appeared in court nor provided a deposition. The government subsequently withdrew his written testimony.
Judge Alsup urged the government to file an appeal against his ruling. The case is one of several lawsuits questioning these mass terminations. A separate Maryland judge also voiced skepticism regarding the Trump administration’s handling of similar situations in a recent court hearing. Conversely, a judge in Washington, D.C., issued a decision against the unions, advising the dismissed workers to follow procedures outlined under employment law.
There are around 200,000 probationary workers within federal agencies. This group includes entry-level employees and those recently promoted. Approximately 15,000 of these workers are based in California, delivering various services from fire prevention to veteran care. The coalition of labor unions and nonprofit organizations, which represents parks, veterans, and small businesses, filed the lawsuit outlining how multiple agencies had instructed personnel offices to dismiss employees using a standard email template citing performance issues.
