Judge blocks mass firings of federal agency workers
A judge in California has said that the Trump administration's mass termination of probationary employees at federal agencies is likely to be unlawful and imposed an injunction on the programme.
US District Judge William Alsup's restraining order has been granted on the grounds that the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and its acting director Charles Ezell – who manage human resources for the federal government – lack the authority to order the cull.
The case – brought by plaintiffs, including the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) union – does not mention health agencies specifically, but could set a legal precedent that would have an impact on other ongoing lawsuits seeking to prevent sweeping layoffs at the FDA, CDC, and others.
Judge Alsup said that when federal agencies fire employees for no reason, "that's just not right in our country," adding: "We can't run our agencies with lies. The Office of Personnel Management does not have any authority whatsoever under any statute in the history of the universe to hire and fire employees at another agency."
The ruling came right on the heels of a second round-robin email sent by the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to federal workers, giving them "another chance" to justify their value to their jobs or risk termination.
That came despite earlier guidance from the White House that the request was voluntary, and came as Musk warned on X that failure to respond would be considered a resignation.
Judge Alsup ordered OPM to immediately notify federal agencies of the ruling, including the Department of Defense, which is scheduled to terminate thousands of probationary employees later today.
He ordered the federal government to disclose by Tuesday next week the identity of participants on a call on 13th February that has been reported to have been the occasion on which OPM ordered the agencies to terminate probationary employees who were not "mission-critical."
"This ruling by Judge Alsup is an important initial victory for patriotic Americans across this country who were illegally fired from their jobs by an agency that had no authority to do so," said Everett Kelley, AFGE national president.
"These are rank-and-file workers who joined the federal government to make a difference in their communities, only to be suddenly terminated due to this administration's disdain for federal employees and desire to privatise their work."
Earlier this week, it was widely reported that the FDA had been forced to rehire some of the probationary employees it had fired – typically those employed for two years or less – after it became clear they were essential to the agency's functioning.
"Probationary employees are the lifeblood of our government. They come in at a low level and work their way up. That's how we renew ourselves," said Alsup, who was appointed by Democratic former President Bill Clinton. A written order is due to be published shortly, ahead of an evidentiary hearing on 13th March.
Image by Sergei Tokmakov from Pixabay
