Judge Orders Trump Administration to Reinstate Fired Probationary Federal Workers
A federal judge has issued a temporary restraining order, mandating the Trump administration to reinstate thousands of probationary federal workers who were dismissed.
Why It Matters:
The ruling, issued by U.S. District Judge James Bredar, comes after a lawsuit filed by state attorneys general against 18 federal agencies. The judge found that the lawsuit, which argues the mass firings were "unlawful", is likely to succeed.
The Latest Developments:
In his order, Judge Bredar, appointed during the Obama administration, stated that the agencies involved failed to provide "advance notice" before firing the workers.
"It claims it wasn't required to because, it says, it dismissed each one of these thousands of probationary employees for 'performance' or other individualized reasons," Judge Bredar wrote. "On the record before the Court, this isn't true. There were no individualized assessments of employees. They were all just fired. Collectively," he added.
The Big Picture:
The lawsuit targets a wide range of federal agencies, including the Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, Education, Energy, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, Housing and Urban Development, Interior, Labor, Transportation, Treasury, and Veterans Affairs, along with their respective secretaries.
Earlier on Thursday, a federal judge in California also ruled that six federal agencies must offer jobs back to fired probationary workers.
Representatives from the Trump administration have yet to comment on the ruling.
