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Topline A federal judge ruled Thursday the Trump administration’s mass firing of probationary government workers was probably illegal, according to multiple outlets , ordering the Office of Personnel Management to rescind directives that triggered the layoffs after the Trump administration recently indicated the largest round of layoffs to several federal agencies yet is forthcoming. Key Facts Get Forbes Breaking News Text Alerts: We’re launching text message alerts so you'll always know the biggest stories shaping the day’s headlines. Text “Alerts” to (201) 335-0739 or sign up here .
What To Watch For The Trump administration ordered agency leaders in a Feb. 26 memo to submit plans for reducing their workforces by March 13, indicating the most sweeping layoffs are forthcoming. What Other Officials Have Been Fired By Trump? It’s not immediately clear how many staff have been affected by widespread layoffs across the Trump administration, which are separate from voluntary buyout deals offered to more than 2 million federal workers.
Trump’s administration has reportedly made a number of other high-profile terminations: At least 17 inspectors general, the chief financial officer at the Federal Emergency Management Agency plus three other FEMA workers, U.S. Coast Guard Commandant Linda Fagan, more than a dozen prosecutors who worked on cases against Trump, multiple senior FBI officials, the director of the Office of Government Ethics, and several high-ranking military officials, including Air Force Gen.
Charles Q. Brown. Who Are Probationary Employees? Mostly new employees who have been in the federal workforce for less than a year and are not afforded some job protections, including a right to appeal terminations.
Probationary employees are the target of the Trump administration’s layoffs, according to multiple reports. More than 200,000 federal workers are probationary employees. How Many Employees Have Resigned Since Trump Took Office? The Trump administration separately offered all federal civilian workers pay with benefits through September if they choose to voluntarily resign, an offer 75,000 federal workers reportedly accepted.
The administration has suggested employees who don’t participate in the program could be subject to the mass terminations. Are The Terminations Legal? At least for many probationary employees, probably not, according to U.S.
District Judge William Alsup, who ordered the Office of Personnel Management to rescind firing directives at the heart of the probationary government employee layoffs, The Wall Street Journal reported. Meanwhile, the Trump administration is facing multiple lawsuits over some of the more high-profile firings. A judge temporarily reinstated the head of the Office of Special Counsel, Hampton Dellinger, whose office protects government whistleblowers.
Dellinger filed a lawsuit arguing Trump can’t fire him without evidence of neglect or misconduct. Dellinger’s office also filed a lawsuit to block Trump from firing probationary employees, arguing the mass terminations are in violation of federal protocol that only allows probationary employees to be fired for “individualized cause.” Several labor unions have also sued the Trump administration over the mass firings, and at least two judges have sided with the Trump administration, ruling the unions didn’t show necessary harm to justify the lawsuits.
Eight inspectors general also argued in a lawsuit filed in mid-February their terminations violated federal rules that require the executive branch to give Congress 30 days notice before firing them, plus a justification for the terminations. The administration is also facing lawsuits from former National Labor Relations Board Chair Gwynne Wilcox, who was fired by Trump on Jan. 27, and former Merit Systems Protection Board member Cathy Harris, who was fired Feb.
10. What Are The Rules For Mass Layoffs At The Federal Government? Federal regulations of mass layoffs, known as “reduction in force,” require the government to give 60 days advance notice of a layoff. The job must also be eliminated entirely—not an attempt to replace a worker, according to the Wall Street Journal .
Employees who believe the administration broke protocol in terminating them can file complaints with the Merit Systems Protection Board. There are also protections in place for independent boards and commissions, such as the NLRB. Presidents can only fire members of the board for “malfeasance” or “neglect of duty,” according to the Wall Street Journal.
What Other Cuts Are Expected? Trump is aiming for budget cuts between 30% and 40%, on average, across all government agencies, with staffing reductions serving as a major area for spending rollbacks, the Washington Post reported , citing two anonymous sources. Many of the spending cuts are led by billionaire Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency. How Does Trump Want To Use Schedule F To Terminate Employees? Trump signed an executive order to reinstate a policy from his first term that reclassified tens of thousands of federal civilian employees to at-will employees, making it easier for him to fire them by ridding them of their job protections.
Several unions, including the American Federation of Government Employees, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees and the National Treasury Employees Union have filed lawsuits to block Schedule F from taking effect. Schedule F is unrelated to the mass layoffs of probationary employees, but is widely viewed as another tool Trump can use to exert outsized power over the makeup of the federal workforce. Surprising Fact Some Republicans have begun to speak out about the widespread job cuts, with Musk’s email to federal employees asking them to detail five accomplishments sparking a new round of criticism and .
Multiple Republicans called for Musk to exercise more “compassion” in his effort to reduce the federal workforce. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, gave some of the sharpest criticism of her Republican colleagues, calling the email “absurd” and likening the directive to “intimidation,” while others have expressed concerns that Congress doesn’t have enough information about DOGE’s activities.
Correction: This article has been updated to reflect the Labor Department's reported layoff plans. Further Reading Here Are All The Major Lawsuits Against Trump And Musk: 8 Inspectors General Challenge Their Firing In Court (Forbes) Trump’s Federal Worker Buyout Pause Lifted: Here’s What To Know As 75,000 Workers Accept Offer (Forbes) Trump Vs. CFPB: Russ Vought Orders Consumer Financial Protection Bureau To Stop Work (Forbes).
