A U.S. appeals court declined to halt a judge’s ruling instructing the Trump administration to rehire 25,000 employees across 18 federal agencies who were dismissed during a workforce reduction effort. The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia, stated that there was no need to pause the decision as a judge in Baltimore, Maryland was set to determine its extension next week. The case, brought by 19 Democrat-led states and Washington, D.C., involves agencies such as the Department of Veterans Affairs, Department of Agriculture, Department of Energy, Department of Health and Human Services, and the Treasury Department.
The Trump administration had reported that the agencies were in the process of reinstating the terminated workers by placing them on paid leave temporarily. Pending the administration’s appeal, the court’s decision stands. The dismissals were targeted towards probationary employees, many of whom had under two years of service, in line with Trump’s agenda to reduce federal workforce and government spending.
Various agencies terminated hundreds to thousands of probationary workers, with the Treasury Department firing approximately 7,600, the Department of Agriculture letting go of about 5,700, and the Department of Health and Human Services relieving over 3,200 employees. Judge James Bredar in Baltimore ruled that agencies should have followed proper procedures for mass layoffs and ordered reinstatement of the workers during ongoing litigation.
Another judge in San Francisco also ordered the reinstatement of probationary workers at six agencies, including five covered by Judge Bredar’s ruling and the U.S. Department of Defense, though on different legal grounds. The administration has filed an appeal to pause the San Francisco decision while the case unfolds. The courts’ decisions did not prevent agencies from terminating probationary workers entirely, but rather criticized the manner in which the dismissals were carried out.
