Appeals Court Clears Trump Administration to Resume Mass Firings of Federal Workers

Recent rulings from the Fourth Circuit and Supreme Court have removed legal barriers, allowing the Trump administration to proceed with terminating thousands of probationary employees.

The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 in favor of the Trump administration, pausing a lower court order that had reinstated fired probationary federal workers.
The decision follows a similar Supreme Court ruling that blocked a California judge's injunction requiring the rehiring of 16,000 probationary employees across six federal agencies.
The rulings enable the Trump administration to move forward with its effort to downsize the federal workforce by targeting probationary employees who lack full civil service protections.
A coalition of 20 Democratic-led states and Washington, D.C., had argued that the mass firings violated federal reduction-in-force procedures, causing economic strain on state systems.
Dissenting Judge DeAndrea Benjamin maintained that the states had standing to challenge the firings due to the harm caused by increased unemployment claims and lost tax revenue.