By Annette Cary
Tri-City Herald (Kennewick, Wash.)
(TNS)
Mar. 13—A federal judge in California has ordered six agencies to reinstate the employment of probationary employees who were fired by the Trump administration.
The agencies include Veterans Affairs, Agriculture, Interior, Energy, Defense and Treasury departments, with the potential for the judge to add more agencies to the order.
Probationary employees are those on probation—usually for a year, but sometimes two years or longer—after being hired or promoted at federal agencies.
“Today’s order is a win for the employees that will be reinstated and the rule of law, but this case is not over,” Washington Attorney General Nick Brown said Thursday after the ruling by Judge William H. Alsup of the Northern District of California U.S. Court.
Employees could again be laid off if lawful procedures are followed.
The state of Washington joined the lawsuit filed initially on behalf of a coalition of labor groups and other impacted organizations.
Alsup found that firing probationary federal employees was illegal because the Office of Personnel Management had no authority to order the terminations.
The judge not only ordered probationary employees to be reinstated, but forbade the Office of Personnel Management from giving any guidance to federal agencies on which employees should be terminated, according to the Washington state Office of Attorney General.
The Department of Justice is expected to appeal.
More federal job cuts
The probationary employees are just a portion of federal employees losing their jobs under the Trump administration. Other employees volunteered for layoffs with pay promised through the end of the fiscal year in September. And more rounds of layoffs are expected.
Thursday was the deadline set by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget and U.S. Office of Personnel Management for federal agency heads to submit reduction-in-force and reorganization plans to further significantly cut the federal workforce.
The memo requiring plans for RIFs said the federal government is “costly, inefficient and deeply in debt” and that “tax dollars are being siphoned off to fund unproductive and unnecessary programs that benefit radical interest groups while hurting hard-working American citizens.”
The memo gave suggestions such as renegotiating provisions of collective bargaining agreements and eliminating functions that are not mandated by law, plus firing underperforming employees and reducing staff through attrition.
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© 2025 Tri-City Herald (Kennewick, Wash.). Visit www.tri-cityherald.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency LLC.
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Tags: layoffs, Payroll, Trump administration
