USDA employees fired en masse by Trump administration reinstated, workers’ board says

A workers’ board is reinstating – at least temporarily – almost 6,000 fired probationary workers from the Department of Agriculture, according to a newly issued order obtained by CNN.

A workers’ board is reinstating – at least temporarily – almost 6,000 fired probationary workers from the Department of Agriculture, according to a newly issued order obtained by CNN. The order, by the Merit Systems Protection Board, undercuts President Donald Trump’s attempts to downsize the federal civil service and is a major indication that the mass layoffs were unlawful and may eventually be reversed by the board. It also signals the board may reverse the Trump administration’s approach to mass firings across several other agencies in the federal government. Probationary workers, meaning those who have been in their positions about a year or less, lost their jobs at USDA beginning on February 13. The reason the Trump administration gave for the cutbacks was that these employees “demonstrated that [their] further employment” wouldn’t be “in the public interest.” A special counsel who looked at the employees’ claims argued to the workers’ board the mass layoffs appeared not to follow the law for how the government can cut back its workforce. On Wednesday, the Merit Systems Protection Board agreed, in an opinion written by board member Cathy Harris. That means the workers should be able to go back to work immediately, at least for 45 days, starting Wednesday, Harris said. The special counsel – a different government office than the more high-profile special counsels at the Justice Department like Jack Smith and Robert Mueller – now can investigate further and the board can look again at the legal questions around the mass layoffs at USDA to determine if the firings were unlawful.