Federal Agency Halts Trump Administration’s Firing of 6 Government Employees

The U.S. Department of Agriculture building is shown in Washington, D.C., on July 21, 2007. SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images

A federal agency on Feb. 25 stopped President Donald Trump’s administration from firing six probationary workers, at least for now.

The Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) sided with the U.S. Office of Special Counsel and imposed a 45-day stay on the terminations of six workers.

Special Counsel Hampton Dellinger, head of the Office of Special Counsel, said in a filing to the board that the terminations violated federal law in part because officials did not adequately evaluate the performance of the employees before firing them.

Federal law lets the Office of Special Counsel (OSC) request an MSPB member stay a termination for 45 days if the OSC determines there are “reasonable grounds to believe that the personnel action was taken, or is to be taken, as a result of a prohibited personnel practice.”

The law says the request shall be granted unless the board determines a stay would not be appropriate.

The OSC serves to protect federal employees, former federal employees, and applicants from prohibited practices such as discrimination. The MSPB adjudicates complaints from workers, former workers, and applicants, and the OSC functions as the prosecutor of cases before the board.

Raymond A. Limon, one of three MSPB members, said on Tuesday that, based on the OSC filing, “there are reasonable grounds to believe that each of the six agencies engaged in a prohibited personnel practice” and ordered officials to reinstate the six employees who were fired.

The board also ordered the government not to change the responsibilities of the workers in a way that would be inconsistent with their salary or level.

The workers in question are employed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the U.S. Department of Energy, the U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Office of Personnel Management, and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

The White House did not respond to a request for comment.

The stay only affects six of the thousands of workers the federal government has fired in recent weeks, including from additional agencies such as the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Dellinger has said he is exploring how to secure relief for more of the former employees.

“These stays represent a small sample of all the probationary employees who have been fired recently so our work is far from done,” Dellinger said in a statement. “Agency leaders should know that OSC will continue to pursue allegations of unlawful personnel actions, which can include asking MSPB for relief for a broader group of fired probationary employees. I urge agency leaders to voluntarily and immediately rescind any and every unlawful termination of probationary employees.”

Lawyers representing the workers also cheered the development.

“This decision reflects the importance of the MSPB and OSC in safeguarding the fundamental merit system principles and most importantly, allows these wrongfully terminated employees to return to their jobs, provide for their families, and continue serving the public with dignity and integrity,” Michelle Bercovici, partner at the Alden Law Group PLLC, said in a statement.

Trump fired both Dellinger and Cathy A. Harris, another member of the board after he took office in January. Federal judges have blocked those terminations as legal cases brought by Dellinger and Harris proceed because, the judges said, there were indications the government failed to outline just cause for removing them.

Trump administration lawyers have said that the president can remove the heads of agencies at will, without cause.

A hearing in Dellinger’s case is scheduled to take place on Feb. 26.