Second federal judge orders Trump administration to rehire fired probationary government workers

A judge in Maryland has blocked for now the mass firings of probationary federal workers and ordered thousands of fired probationary workers to be reinstated, marking the second decision of its kind in a day.

The order from U.S. District Judge James Bredar came late Thursday in a lawsuit filed by 19 states and the District of Columbia against multiple federal agencies alleging the mass firings are illegal.

The states contend the Trump administration blindsided them by ignoring laws set out for large-scale layoffs, which already are having an impact on state governments as they try to help the suddenly jobless. At least 24,000 probationary employees have been terminated since President Trump took office, the lawsuit alleges, though efforts by the judge to get an estimate from a government attorney at a hearing Wednesday were unsuccessful.

The Trump administration argues that the states have no right to try and influence the federal government’s relationship with its own workers. Mr. Trump has said he’s targeting fraud, waste and abuse in a bloated federal government.

Earlier Thursday, a federal judge in San Francisco also ordered the Trump’s administration to rehire thousands, if not tens of thousands, of probationary workers let go in mass firings across multiple agencies.

U.S. District Judge William Alsup said that the terminations were directed by the Office of Personnel Management and its acting director, Charles Ezell, who lacked the authority to do so.

The administration immediately filed an appeal of the injunction with the Ninth Circuit Court. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt earlier Thursday cast the ruling as an attempt to encroach on executive power to hire and fire employees. 

“The Trump Administration will immediately fight back against this absurd and unconstitutional order,” she said in a statement.

Alsup’s order tells the departments of Veterans Affairs, Agriculture, Defense, Energy, the Interior and the Treasury to immediately offer job reinstatement to employees terminated on or about Feb. 13 and 14. He also directed the departments to report back within seven days with a list of probationary employees and an explanation of how the agencies complied with his order as to each person.

This is a developing story and will be updated.