A U.S. District Court judge has ordered former President Donald Trump to reinstate thousands of federal employees who were dismissed based on what the court determined to be false pretenses.
Judge William H. Alsup of California ruled that approximately 30,000 probationary employees across multiple federal departments—including Veterans Affairs, Energy, Defense, Agriculture, Treasury, and Interior—were unjustly terminated under the justification of poor performance.
The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), an entity tasked with reducing federal expenditures and streamlining government operations, oversaw these mass dismissals. The department, led by Tesla CEO Elon Musk and former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, aims to significantly downsize the federal workforce. The agency has committed to dissolving itself upon completion of its mission, setting a deadline of July 4, 2026—coinciding with the nation’s Independence Day.
According to Trump, the primary objective of DOGE is to “eliminate bureaucratic inefficiencies, reduce excessive regulations, curb unnecessary spending, and restructure federal agencies.”
Recent labor statistics indicate a rise in continuing unemployment claims filed by federal workers, with claims increasing from 7,412 to 8,215 in the week ending February 22. These figures highlight the widespread impact of the layoffs.
During court proceedings on March 13, Judge Alsup condemned the justification for these terminations, stating, “It is a sad day when our government dismisses competent employees under the guise of poor performance when it is well aware that this is not the truth.”
This ruling follows a previous decision by Alsup on February 27, where he deemed the mass firings unlawful, citing the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) as lacking the authority to mandate such terminations. The OPM subsequently amended a January 20 directive concerning probationary employees, an action interpreted by the American Federation of Government Employees as an acknowledgment of wrongful conduct.
In response, the union issued a statement asserting that “OPM’s revision of its January 20 memo is a clear admission that it unlawfully directed federal agencies to implement mass firings of probationary employees.” The statement further demanded that “every agency should immediately revoke these terminations and reinstate all employees who were unlawfully dismissed.”
