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Washington — The U.S. Supreme Court recently decided to pause a decision by a lower court that mandated six federal agencies to rehire over 16,000 probationary employees who had been terminated. This move came in response to an emergency request from the Trump administration, aimed at continuing its efforts to significantly reduce the federal workforce amid ongoing legal challenges.
The Supreme Court issued an unsigned order stating that the injunction from the district court, which was imposed in mid-March, was based solely on the claims made by the nine nonprofit organizations involved in the case. The Court noted that these allegations did not currently establish a legal right to sue, a principle referred to as standing.
The stay from the Supreme Court will remain effective while the legal matters are resolved. Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson expressed dissent, indicating they would have rejected the Department of Justice’s request for relief.
The probationary employees, who were typically in their one- or two-year trial periods, became primary targets during President Trump’s initiative to streamline the government. Following their dismissal in mid-February, many found themselves in uncertainty as their jobs were restored briefly due to court rulings.
The controversy stemmed from widespread termination notices issued to these probationary workers, many of which contained similar wording that cited individual performance issues. However, several affected employees challenged these firings in court, maintaining they had received positive performance assessments prior to their termination.
A coalition of labor unions and nonprofit organizations responded to the mass firings with a lawsuit filed in federal district court in California, arguing that the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) had overstepped its authority in directing these terminations.
U.S. District Judge William Alsup ruled in late February that the earlier guidance from OPM regarding probationary worker dismissals was “illegal” and consequently invalid. The judge also indicated that the mass firings likely violated the law.
Subsequent to the court’s ruling, acting OPM director Charles Ezell provided new guidance, clarifying that the office would not instruct agencies to take specific performance-related actions against probationary workers.
After a hearing last month, Judge Alsup ordered six federal agencies—Agriculture, Defense, Energy, Interior, Treasury, and Veterans Affairs—to promptly reinstate all dismissed probationary employees from the previous month.
Human resources officials from these agencies reported to the court that they had initially rehired the terminated workers and placed them on administrative leave before returning them to their regular duties.
The Justice Department sought to suspend the judge’s ruling while appealing the case, but the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals denied that request.
In an emergency appeal submitted to the Supreme Court, acting Solicitor General Sarah Harris argued that the district court lacked authority to mandate the reinstatement of thousands of probationary employees and contested claims that OPM had orchestrated the firings. She stated, “An order directing reinstatement of thousands of employees across six agencies is intolerable,” highlighting concerns over the implications for agency autonomy and management.
Harris remarked that the logistical challenges posed by sudden reinstatements are a burden stemming from the government’s own decisions, warning that the financial cost of maintaining the dismissed employees could be substantial and non-recoverable.
Conversely, the unions and advocacy groups opposing the terminations argued that any hardships cited by the government are a result of its own actions. They contended that the reinstatement of over 16,000 employees reflects the government’s rash approach to worker dismissals rather than any empirical evidence of disruption to agency operations.
The legal teams for the challengers maintained that the government retains the right to terminate employees, provided it adheres to legal standards. “The district court’s reinstatement merely orders the government to return to the status quo prior to its illegal mass termination of probationary employees,” they stated, emphasizing that any complexities resulting from this return are self-inflicted.
This lawsuit is one of two initiatives aimed at contesting the mass dismissals of probationary workers. Another case, involving 19 states, was filed in a federal district court in Maryland, asserting that the terminations were unlawful and resulting in a judge’s decision to reinstate affected probationary workers in several federal agencies.
The U.S. Supreme Court
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