A federal judge in California has ordered six federal agencies to reinstate workers who were fired last month, ruling that their terminations were unlawful.
U.S. District Judge William Alsup, presiding in San Francisco, ruled against the Trump administration, stating that the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and its Acting Director Charles Ezell lacked the authority to direct mass firings of probationary employees. The decision impacts workers across the Departments of Veterans Affairs, Agriculture, Defense, Energy, Interior, and Treasury.
“It is a sad, sad day when our government would fire some good employee and say it was based on performance when they know good and well that’s a lie,” Judge Alsup said during the hearing. “That should not have been done in our country. It was a sham in order to avoid statutory requirements.”
Federal law allows for mass layoffs, known as a “reduction-in-force,” but agencies must follow strict guidelines. The judge called the firings an improper attempt to cut staff without going through the legal process, describing it as a “gimmick” used by OPM to bypass regulations.
Judge Alsup also criticized former President Donald Trump’s broader efforts to weaken federal worker protections, including the firing of special counsel Hampton Dellinger and attempts to remove members of the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB), which oversees appeals for fired government employees. Another federal judge recently ordered Cathy Harris, an MSPB member ousted by Trump, to be reinstated—a decision the Trump administration is appealing.
With this latest ruling, federal agencies must reinstate all impacted employees immediately.
