Federal Judge Mandates Reinstatement of Officials Fired by Trump

A federal judge on Thursday ordered the U.S. government to reverse widespread layoffs linked to Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s initiative to downsize the federal workforce, according to media reports.

The ruling instructs the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to rescind directives sent to multiple federal agencies, which had resulted in the dismissal of thousands of employees.

“The Office of Personnel Management has absolutely no authority—under any statute in history—to hire or fire employees at another agency,” U.S. District Judge William Alsup stated, as reported by The Washington Post.

“Congress has granted hiring and firing authority to individual agencies. For instance, the Department of Defense has statutory power to manage its own workforce,” he added during a federal court session in San Francisco.

This decision marks another legal setback for Trump’s attempts to reshape the federal government. It follows a West Coast district judge’s recent ruling blocking his refugee admissions ban and a prior court order suspending his executive action that sought to revoke birthright citizenship.

The case originated from lawsuits filed by unions and advocacy groups, who challenged the legality of the directive that ordered agencies to dismiss all probationary employees.

Under federal employment policies, workers in their first or second year—regardless of promotion from a lower position—are classified as probationary. The directive affected tens of thousands of individuals.

“OPM, the agency responsible for enforcing the nation’s employment laws, has carried out one of the most extensive employment frauds in U.S. history,” plaintiffs argued in legal filings cited by The Washington Post.

“OPM lacks the constitutional, statutory, or regulatory authority to mandate that federal agencies terminate employees whom Congress has empowered those agencies to hire and oversee,” attorneys stated.

Source: gulfnews.com