Trump administration appeals reinstatement of dismissed federal employees

The Trump administration has filed an emergency appeal asking the US Supreme Court to suspend a district court’s decision to reinstate thousands of federal employees who were fired as part of a government downsizing program.

In the case being considered, a federal judge in San Francisco issued a preliminary injunction requiring more than a dozen federal agencies to "immediately" reinstate over 16,000 employees currently on probation.

“The district court’s extraordinarily overbroad remedy is now inflicting ongoing, irreparable harm on the Executive Branch that warrants this Court’s urgent intervention,” acting Solicitor General Sarah Harris wrote in court papers.

She noted that the ruling by US District Judge William Alsup “has compelled the government to embark on the massive administrative undertaking of reinstating, and onboarding to full duty status, thousands of terminated employees in the span of a few days.”

The administration’s request comes as the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco is considering a similar urgent appeal filed by the administration on March 14.

“Every additional day the injunction remains in effect is a day that six executive agencies are effectively under the district court’s receivership, necessitating immediate relief from this Court,” Harris argued.

Unions victory

Alsup's decision marked a rare victory for federal unions, which had challenged the administration's efforts to reduce the workforce. While other federal judges had declined to halt the wave of firings, Alsup ruled that the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) had unlawfully instructed agencies to dismiss probationary employees, who generally have been employed for less than a year.

The decision came in a case brought by unions and other parties challenging OPM’s role in the firings, which affected thousands of workers and caused shock in various federal agencies. Some of the dismissed employees were rehired.

The Trump administration targeted probationary employees because they have fewer job protections and are easier to fire. Although they typically cannot appeal their dismissals to the Merit Systems Protection Board, they may do so if the decision was based on "political bias" or "family status."

Supreme Court to support fired federal employees

Harris told the Supreme Court that some of the fired employees had filed complaints with the Office of Special Counsel, arguing that Alsup's decision contradicts the administrative procedures established by Congress for handling such dismissals.

“Declaring open season on challenges to federal personnel management is especially unsound because Congress has created an entirely different framework for resolving legal challenges to the terminations of federal employees,” she wrote, adding that allowing the unions “to head straight to district court and raise claims that the affected federal employees themselves cannot raise would upend that entire process," as the statement follows.

Norm Eisen, who represents the plaintiffs in the case, believes the court will uphold Alsup's ruling.

“The Trump administration illegally terminated tens of thousands of federal employees, as duly noted by Judge Alsup,” Eisen said in a statement. “The administration’s efforts to block relief have so far failed and now they are turning to the Supreme Court – baselessly.”

US federal employee reductions

In January, the Trump administration began a reform to reduce government spending by significantly cutting the number of federal employees. The program is overseen by the US Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), led by Elon Musk.

In February, many federal workers received emails offering voluntary termination by September with severance pay. Thousands of employees on probation in federal ministries were among those let go.

DOGE has also demanded that federal workers report their work results weekly, with threats of termination for noncompliance.

On March 14, Judge William Alsup ordered six US agencies to reinstate thousands of recently hired employees who had been dismissed as part of the federal workforce reduction program.