Unlock the White House Watch watch newsletter for free
Your guide on what the US elections of 2024 mean for Washington and Le Monde
Two federal judges have ordered the Trump administration to re -enlist tens of thousands of employees of the dismissed government in recent weeks, in a significant legal reverse in the aggressive campaign of Elon Musk costs.
In both cases, the Trump administration was ordered to restore probationary employees in 19 federal agencies. The judges determined that the workers had been dismissed in violation of the rules surrounding the mass dismissals of government employees.
Thursday evening, Maryland district judge James Bredar made a temporary ban order ordering the government to restore employees in agencies such as the US Treasury, the energy and trade departments, and the financial and American and American financial protection office for international development.
“Licensed probation employees were clearly dismissed” despite the fact that the federal government insists that they have been, Bredar wrote in a memorandum accompanying his order.
He also noted that the federal government did not give “any notice” of what was in fact reductions of strength, which harmed states which “were not ready for the impact of so many unemployed”.
Bredar noted that the states which continued the federal government allegedly allegedly allegedly allegedly dismissed.
Earlier Thursday, the district judge of San Francisco, William Alsup, demanded the immediate reintegration of probation employees of six agencies, including the Department of Defense, after representatives of government employees argued that they had been illegally dismissed.
Alsup noted that the staff management office, a governmental human resources agency which was one of the main vehicles used by the so-called Ministry of Government Efficiency (DOGE), had no legal power to order such layoffs.
During a hearing on Thursday, Alsup also criticized the US government for omitting the acting director of the OPM or any other civil servant to answer questions on recent layoffs – despite an explicit request for the Court – and expressed his doubt about the assertion of the Trump administration that dismissed people had been underperformative in their roles.
“The law is clear that the OPM does not have the power to order federal agencies to dismiss their employees,” said Danielle Leonard, lawyer for Alshuler Berton representing the complainants. “Today’s decision is an important first step in holding this responsible administration.”
The court orders are the last of a series of blows at the Crusade to reduce Doge costs. This month, the Supreme Court confirmed an order forcing the government to pay $ 2 billion in foreign aid contracts that the Trump administration had tried to cancel, while the judges of the lower courts prevented Musk’s emissaries from accessing certain sensitive information.
The American government has also decided to clarify a directive published shortly after the inauguration of Trump concerning probationary employees, stressing that it is up to individual agencies to make personnel decisions.
Trump last week urged Musk to use a “scalpel” rather than an “ax” to identify the savings, after the scale and the extent of the cuts and the layoffs even protested republican legislators.
In a press release concerning the Alsup order, the press secretary of the White House, Karoline Leavitt, accused the judge of having “tried to grasp the power to hire and shoot from the executive unconstitutionally”.
“If a judge of the Federal District Court wishes executive powers, he can try to present himself to the presidency themselves,” she said. “The Trump administration will immediately fight against this absurd and unconstitutional order.”
