Judge blocks Trump administration from firing probationary employees

By Kayle Jimenez

A Northern California federal judge has temporarily blocked the Trump administration from its mass firing of probationary federal employees, a group of workers that represent some of the newest hires.

On Thursday, Judge William Alsup of the U.S. District Court for the Northern California District said the mass firings were likely unlawful and ordered that the Office of Personnel Management halt the firings.

In a San Francisco court, Alsup said the Office of Personnel Management acted out of bounds by telling other agencies – including the Department of Education, Small Business Administration and the Energy Department – to fire its employees.

“OPM does not have any authority whatsoever, under any statute in the history of the universe, to hire or fire any employees, but its own,” Alsup said.

The U.S. Office of Personnel Management under the Trump administration had recently issued a memo to the Department of Defense and other federal agencies to fire the new probationary employees.

“We have asked that you separate probationary employees that you have not identified as mission-critical no later than the end of the day Monday, 2/17,” the memo reads.

The government’s attorney said the messaging in the memo was not an order but a request to evaluate staffing.

A group of labor unions and other organizations in support of the federal employees had sued to block the move.

Everett Kelley, the national president of the American Federation of Government Employees, said Thursday that Alsup’s decision is “an important initial victory” for the workers who were recently fired from their jobs.

“These are rank-and-file workers who joined the federal government to make a difference in their communities, only to be suddenly terminated due to this administration’s disdain for federal employees and desire to privatize their work,” he said.

The judge did not, however, order the rehiring of anyone who already had been terminated.

The American Federation of Government Employees plans to “keep fighting until we put a stop to these demoralizing and damaging attacks on our civil service once and for all,” Kelley said.