Supreme Court blocks order requiring Trump administration to reinstate
thousands of federal workers
[April 09, 2025]
By MARK SHERMAN
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Tuesday blocked an order for the
Trump administration to return to work thousands of federal employees
who were let go in mass firings aimed at dramatically downsizing the
federal government.
The justices acted in the administration’s emergency appeal of a ruling
by a federal judge in California ordering that 16,000 probationary
employees at six federal agencies be reinstated while a lawsuit plays
out because their firings didn’t follow federal law.
The court's order involved a technical legal assessment of the right, or
standing, of several nonprofit associations to sue over the firings.
Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson said they would have
kept the judge’s order in place.
It’s the third time in less than a week that the justices have sided
with the Republican administration in its fight against federal judges
whose orders have slowed President Donald Trump’s agenda. The court also
paused an order restoring grants for teacher training and lifted an
order that froze deportations under an 18th century wartime law.
But as with the earlier orders, the effect of Tuesday’s order will be
limited. Many employees at the agencies will remain on paid
administrative leave for now because of an order in a separate lawsuit
over the firings.
The second suit, filed in Maryland, involves employees at those same six
agencies, plus roughly a dozen more. That order is more limited in that
it applies only in the 19 states and the District of Columbia that sued
the administration.
The Justice Department is separately appealing the Maryland order.
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The Supreme Court at sunset in Washington, Feb. 13, 2016. (AP
Photo/Jon Elswick, File)
At least 24,000 probationary employees have been terminated since
Trump took office, the lawsuits claim, though the government has not
confirmed that number.
The coalition of organizations and labor unions that sued said it
was disappointed with the court's order, but it said the battle is
far from over.
“There is no doubt that thousands of public service employees were
unlawfully fired in an effort to cripple federal agencies and their
crucial programs that serve millions of Americans every day," the
coalition said in a statement.
U.S. District Judge William Alsup in San Francisco ruled that the
terminations were improperly directed by the Office of Personnel
Management and its acting director. He ordered rehiring at the
departments of Veterans Affairs, Agriculture, Defense, Energy, the
Interior and the Treasury.
Alsup, who was nominated by Democratic President Bill Clinton,
expressed frustration with what he called the government’s attempt
to sidestep laws and regulations by firing probationary workers with
fewer legal protections.
He said he was appalled that employees were told they were being
fired for poor performance despite receiving glowing evaluations
just months earlier.
The administration has insisted that the agencies themselves
directed the firings and they “have since decided to stand by those
terminations,” Solicitor General D. John Sauer told the court.
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