The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday halted a lower court order that would have required the Trump administration to reinstate thousands of federal employees who had been dismissed in mass firings aimed at downsizing the federal government.
The Supreme Court’s decision comes in response to the administration’s emergency appeal of a ruling by a federal judge in California. That judge had ordered the reinstatement of 16,000 probationary employees, finding that their terminations violated federal law.
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The Supreme Court’s action effectively keeps the affected employees in six federal agencies on paid administrative leave for the time being. Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson indicated they would have allowed the lower court’s order to stand.
A separate lawsuit filed in Maryland also resulted in a court order blocking the firings at the same six agencies, as well as at approximately a dozen others. However, the Maryland order only applies to the 19 states and the District of Columbia that were parties to that lawsuit.
The Justice Department is pursuing a separate appeal of the Maryland court order.
The lawsuits challenging the firings allege that at least 24,000 probationary employees have been terminated since President Trump took office, though the government has not confirmed this figure.
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U.S. District Judge William Alsup in San Francisco ruled that the terminations were improperly directed by the Office of Personnel Management and its acting director. His order mandated rehiring at the departments of Veterans Affairs, Agriculture, Defense, Energy, the Interior, and the Treasury.
Judge Alsup’s ruling stemmed from a lawsuit brought by a coalition of labor unions and non-profit organizations, who argued that the mass firings would negatively impact them.
Alsup expressed his concern about the government’s attempt to circumvent laws and regulations by firing probationary workers, who have fewer legal protections. He also voiced his dismay over reports that employees were told they were being fired for poor performance despite receiving positive evaluations.
The Trump administration, through Solicitor General D. John Sauer, has argued that the agencies themselves directed the firings and “have since decided to stand by those terminations.”
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