Lagatar24 Desk
Los Angeles: A federal judge has ordered the US government to reverse mass layoffs of federal employees, a move initiated by Donald Trump and Elon Musk as part of their plan to drastically cut the federal workforce, according to media reports.
Court Ruling Against Mass Layoffs
US District Judge William Alsup ruled that the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) had no authority to issue directives that resulted in the termination of thousands of government employees.
“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,” Judge Alsup said, as quoted by The Washington Post.
The ruling emphasized that Congress had granted hiring and firing authority to individual government agencies, such as the Department of Defense, rather than allowing OPM to make unilateral decisions on mass layoffs.
Legal Setback for Trump’s Workforce Reduction Plan
This decision marks another legal defeat for Trump’s administration, which has faced judicial resistance to several executive actions. In recent weeks, courts have:
• Blocked Trump’s ban on refugee admissions
• Suspended his executive order to end birthright citizenship
Thursday’s ruling was a response to a lawsuit filed by unions and advocacy groups, challenging what they called illegal orders to terminate all probationary staff.
Impact on Federal Workers
Under the existing US employment system, a federal worker remains in a probationary period for the first one or two years of their employment, even after promotion from a lower position. Trump’s order affected tens of thousands of federal employees by directing agencies to fire those in their probationary period.
In a legal filing, plaintiffs accused OPM of employment fraud, arguing that the agency lacked any constitutional or statutory power to dictate mass firings.
“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,” the lawsuit stated.
The ruling means federal agencies must now reinstate thousands of employees who were dismissed under the directive.
