Judge orders Trump administration to reinstate thousands of fired employees at VA, Defense Department and other agencies

A federal judge has ordered half a dozen federal agencies to “immediately” reinstate probationary employees fired last month as part of the Trump administration’s effort to rapidly shrink the federal workforce.

A federal judge has ordered half a dozen federal agencies to “immediately” reinstate probationary employees fired last month as part of the Trump administration’s effort to rapidly shrink the federal workforce. The preliminary injunction issued from the bench by US District Judge William Alsup requires the departments of Veterans Affairs, Agriculture, Defense, Energy, Interior and Treasury to rehire the employees. The judge said that he might extend the order to cover other federal agencies at a later time. Alsup, an appointee of former President Bill Clinton, said he was making the ruling because he believes the Office of Personnel Management unlawfully directed the agencies earlier this year to lay off the probationary employees, who generally have been on the job for less than a year. “The court finds that Office of Personnel Management did direct all agencies to terminate probationary employees with the exception of mission critical employees,” he said, rejecting arguments from the Justice Department that OPM merely issued “guidance” to the agencies that then led to the firings. This story is breaking and will be updated.