Federal judge orders reversal of Trump's firings
Los Angeles, United States (AFP) February 27 - A federal judge on Thursday ordered the US government to reverse mass firings that are part of Donald Trump and Elon Musk's plan to slash the government's workforce, media reported.
The ruling directs the Office of Personnel Management to withdraw directives sent to a number of federal agencies that resulted in thousands of staff being laid off.
WASHINGTON, DC - FEBRUARY 27: U.S. President Donald Trump looks on during a joint press conference with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer in the East Room at the White House on February 27, 2025 in Washington, DC. Starmer is on his first visit to Washington since President Trump returned to the White House. Starmer's trip comes shortly after he announced an increase in UK defense spending, ostensibly as a signal to Trump that the UK is prepared to bolster Europe's security, and as he aims to broker a fair peace deal for Ukraine amid Trump's warming relations with Russia. Andrew Harnik/Getty Images/AFP (Photo by Andrew Harnik / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)
"The Office of Personnel Management does not have any authority whatsoever under any statute in the history of the universe to hire and fire employees at another agency," US District Judge William Alsup said, according to The Washington Post.
"Congress has given the authority to hire and fire to the agencies themselves. The Department of Defense, for example, has statutory authority to hire and fire," he said at the federal court in San Francisco.
The ruling is the latest legal blow to Trump's efforts to bring the US government to heel.
It comes days after another district judge on the West Coast blocked his ban on refugee admissions, and weeks after a court suspended his executive order overturning the constitutional guarantee of birthright citizenship.
Thursday's ruling came after unions and advocacy groups sued over what they said were illegal orders that federal agencies fire all probationary staff.
A federal worker in the first or second year of their job is considered probationary, even if they have been promoted from a lower rank.
Tens of thousands of people were affected by the order.
"OPM, the federal agency charged with implementing this nation's employment laws, in one fell swoop has perpetrated one of the most massive employment frauds in the history of this country," a plaintiffs' legal filing said, according to the Post.
"OPM lacks constitutional, statutory, or regulatory power to order other federal agencies to terminate employees who Congress authorized those agencies to hire and manage," attorneys said.
