Judge Orders Sweeping Rehiring Of Fired Workers At 18 Federal Agencies

A second federal judge has ordered the mass reinstatement of fired federal workers, reversing the Trump administration’s terminations of probationary employees at 18 major agencies.

The agencies covered by U.S. District Judge James Bredar’s sweeping order, issued Thursday night, include the Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Education, Energy, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, Labor, State, Transportation and Treasury, among others.

Bredar’s order sweeps even more broadly than a ruling earlier in the day from a different federal judge, who directed six Cabinet departments to immediately rehire probationary employees who were fired under President Donald Trump’s plan to cut the federal workforce.

Both judges concluded that the Trump administration used false allegations of “performance” issues as a pretext to justify the large-scale firings and ignore legally mandated procedures for slimming the workforce.

Bredar, a Baltimore-based appointee of President Barack Obama, also ruled that the administration had implemented “reductions in force,” or RIFs, without providing legally required notice to state governments.

Despite the breadth of his order, Bredar ruled that the states did not present enough evidence for the order to apply to the Department of Defense, the Office of Personnel Management and the National Archives.

Bredar’s ruling came in a lawsuit brought by Democratic state attorneys general. The earlier ruling — from San Francisco-based Judge William Alsup — came in a lawsuit brought by federal employees’ unions.

Unlike Bredar, Alsup did order rehirings at the Department of Defense. (Alsup’s ruling also covers Agriculture, Energy, Interior, Treasury and Veterans Affairs.)

Alsup’s ruling is in place indefinitely, while Bredar’s is slated to last 14 days, but could be extended.

The Justice Department is certain to contest both rulings.

A White House spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Bredar’s decision, but the Trump administration had already slammed Alsup’s ruling as “absurd and unconstitutional.” Nevertheless, federal employee unions and other groups are pressing him to expand it to cover more agencies.

Both rulings emerged on the same day the Trump administration urged the Supreme Court to rein in the authority of district court judges to issue so-called nationwide injunctions limiting or block federal policies. The Justice Department is also urging the high court to narrow the circumstances in which states can pursue challenges to federal actions.