<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Two federal judges handed down orders requiring President Donald Trump's administration to rehire thousands, if not tens of thousands, of probationary workers let go in mass firings across multiple agencies on Thursday, slowing down for now the president's dramatic downsizing of the federal government.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Both judges separately found legal problems with the way the mass terminations were carried out and ordered the employees at least temporarily brought back on the job.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The Trump administration has already appealed the first ruling. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt cast it as an attempt to encroach on the president's power to hire and fire employees.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/donald-trump-update-us-president-threatens-retaliatory-european-wine-tariff-after-eu-whiskey-proposal/a4a5f94a-33f3-4ebe-baa0-9a54ea126383" target="_blank"><strong><span>Trump's trade war hits bourbon and bubbly hard</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>“The Trump Administration will immediately fight back against this absurd and unconstitutional order," she said in a statement.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>In San Francisco, US District Judge William Alsup found on Thursday morning that terminations across six agencies were directed by the Office of Personnel Management and an acting director, Charles Ezell, who lacked the authority to do so.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/columbine-school-shooting-victim-anne-marie-hochhalter-death-ruled-a-homicide-result-from-shooting/cd5a8a9d-2021-4e00-86f7-3209d48deb9e" target="_blank"><strong><span>Columbine death toll rises after survivor dies 26 years later</span></strong></a></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/world/two-judges-in-mass-firings-cases-order-trump-administration-to-rehire-probationary-workers-for-now/43dca158-cf6c-4abb-9e5d-0fc9941b1b66" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>In Baltimore, US District Judge James Bredar found that the administration did not follow laws set out for large-scale layoffs, including 60 days' advance notice.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Bredar, who was appointed by President Barack Obama, ordered the firings temporarily halted and the workforce returned to the status quo before the layoffs began.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>He sided with nearly two dozen states that filed a lawsuit alleging the mass firings are illegal and already having an impact on state governments as they try to help the suddenly jobless.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>At least 24,000 probationary employees have been terminated since Trump took office, the lawsuit alleges, though the government has not confirmed that number, including advance notice required for affected states.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/donald-trump-trade-war-wall-street-continues-to-spiral-stocks-fall/060c0478-9d47-4146-8d39-6902fff878ea" target="_blank"><strong><span>Wall Street spirals after Trump escalates his trade war</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The Trump administration argues that the states have no right to try and influence the federal government’s relationship with its own workers.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Justice Department attorneys argued the firings were for performance issues, not large-scale layoffs subject to specific regulations.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The White House did not immediately return an email seeking comment on Bredar's ruling.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Probationary workers have been targeted for layoffs across the federal government because they’re usually new to the job and lack full civil service protection. Multiple lawsuits have been filed over the mass firings.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>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 February 13 and 14.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>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.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/donald-trump-update-us-president-threatens-retaliatory-european-wine-tariff-after-eu-whiskey-proposal/a4a5f94a-33f3-4ebe-baa0-9a54ea126383" rel="" target="" title=""><strong><span>Trump threatens 200% tariff on European wine</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="styles__Wrapper-sc-2o34ro-0 cmwkBV"><div class="styles__Column-sc-2o34ro-3 jJDKrX"><a href="/content/2025/03/11/16/41/donald-trump-billionaires-lost-money-supporters-in-pictures"><img alt="Guests including Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, Sundar Pichai and Elon Musk, arrive before the 60th Presidential Inauguration in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson, Pool)" sizes="(min-width: 1024px) 636px, (min-width: 768px) 396px, 100vw" src="https://imageresizer.static9.net.au/hH_9HUsYX7dlj6gTq5XRvApWp80=/0x0:6215x3495/396x223/https%3A%2F%2Fprod.static9.net.au%2Ffs%2Fd0992c21-e070-40e4-9ae7-852a286590b9" srcset="https://imageresizer.static9.net.au/hH_9HUsYX7dlj6gTq5XRvApWp80=/0x0:6215x3495/396x223/https%3A%2F%2Fprod.static9.net.au%2Ffs%2Fd0992c21-e070-40e4-9ae7-852a286590b9 396w, https://imageresizer.static9.net.au/3QFl8nd09HtmSNA7zcq4bN3jwBI=/0x0:6215x3495/636x358/https%3A%2F%2Fprod.static9.net.au%2Ffs%2Fd0992c21-e070-40e4-9ae7-852a286590b9 636w"/></a></div><div class="styles__Column-sc-2o34ro-3 jJDKrX"><div class="styles__Headline-sc-2o34ro-4 hpbOlz">They threw it all behind Trump - and lost more than $300 billion</div><div class="styles__Button-sc-2o34ro-1 eBjlmW"><a class="styles__ButtonLink-sc-2o34ro-2 hqpklJ" href="/content/2025/03/11/16/41/donald-trump-billionaires-lost-money-supporters-in-pictures">View Gallery</a></div></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The temporary restraining order came in a lawsuit filed by a coalition of labor unions and organisations as the Republican administration moves to reduce the federal workforce.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>“These mass-firings of federal workers were not just an attack on government agencies and their ability to function, they were also a direct assault on public lands, wildlife, and the rule of law,” said Erik Molvar, executive director of Western Watersheds Project, one of the plaintiffs.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Alsup expressed frustration with what he called the government's attempt to sidestep laws and regulations governing a reduction in its workforce — which it is allowed to do — by firing probationary workers who lack protections and cannot appeal.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/surfers-paradise-hilton-hotel-fire-occupants-evacuated/35fcbdd0-3b97-4fd0-b6e6-8b3250fcbcbb" rel="" target="" title="Fears of falling debris after Hilton Hotel fire on Gold Coast"><strong><span>Fears of falling debris after Hilton Hotel fire on Gold Coast</span></strong></a><span></span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>He was appalled that employees were told they were being fired for poor performance despite receiving glowing evaluations just months earlier.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>“It is sad, a 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," he said. “That should not have been done in our country.”</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Lawyers for the government maintain the mass firings were lawful because individual agencies reviewed and determined whether employees on probation were fit for continued employment.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/us-influencer-embroiled-in-wombat-scandal-leaves-australia/29fa7200-b995-40d1-acca-75f288ffc1c4"><strong><span>US influencer at centre of wombat scandal flees Australia</span></strong></a><strong><span></span></strong></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>But Alsup, who was appointed by President Bill Clinton, a Democrat, has found that difficult to believe.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>He planned to hold an evidentiary hearing Thursday, but Ezell, the OPM acting director, did not appear to testify in court or even sit for a deposition, and the government retracted his written testimony.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>“I know how we get at the truth, and you’re not helping me get at the truth,” Alsup said to Kelsey Helland, an assistant US attorney.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/plane-catches-fire-on-tarmac-at-us-airport/d4c69532-7256-48f9-8a7b-9a3b3365fc06"><strong><span>Plane catches fire on tarmac at US airport, passengers escape on the wings</span></strong></a><span></span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>There are an estimated 200,000 probationary workers across federal agencies. They include entry-level employees but also workers who recently received a promotion.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>About 15,000 are employed in California, providing services ranging from fire prevention to veterans’ care, according to the lawsuit filed by the coalition of labor unions and nonprofit organisations that represent parks, veterans and small businesses.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The plaintiffs said in their complaint that numerous agencies informed workers that the personnel office had ordered the terminations, with an order to use a template email informing workers their firing was for performance reasons.</span></div></div>