The Trump administration’s attempt to appeal a district judge’s order to reinstate nearly 25,000 probationary workers to their jobs across 18 federal agencies was struck down on March 21.
Judge Allison Rushing of the Fourth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia, chose not to pause the order because the ruling judge, U.S. District Judge James Bredar, was expected to decide next whether to extend his ruling further in a lawsuit brought forward by the attorneys general of 19 Democratic-led states and Washington, D.C.
Bredar granted a temporary restraining order on March 13. He ruled that the mass firings did not follow the required procedures for laying off federal workers, specifically that agencies are required to provide state and local governments with 60 days’ notice of the layoffs.
The Baltimore, Mayland-based judge scheduled another hearing on March 26 to rule on the states’ motion for a preliminary injunction that would leave his ruling in place pending the lawsuit or appeals.
Rushing wrote separately that while she did not find it appropriate to block Bredar’s ruling right now, he did not have the authority to order reinstatements beyond those of the states that sued.
“The district court lost sight of who the Plaintiffs are and what injury they claim when it concluded a nationwide injunction was warranted,” she said.
The top three in terms of fired personnel include 7,605 from the Treasury Department, 5,714 from the Department of Agriculture, and 3,248 from the Department of Health and Human Services.
U.S. District Judge William Alsup in San Francisco on March 13 also ordered the reinstatement of some probationary workers in six agencies and the Department of Defense. That case is also being appealed by the Trump administration in a San Francisco-based appeals court.
The mass layoffs are a part of the Trump Administration’s attempts to shrink the size of the federal government, cut spending, and increase overall efficiency.
