Trump Is Still Moving ‘full Steam Ahead’ On Staffing Cuts Despite Recent Court Orders

White House officials call court rulings to reinstate fired federal workers' judicial activism. Federal agencies — from the Department of Defense to the Energy Department — are giving wildly varied guidance. Even sacked workers don’t know if they’ll return to the job.

Far from clarifying the issue, the White House and federal agencies are handling two sweeping Thursday court rulings to rehire fired probationary federal workers with disparate responses — a sign that the confusion created by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency will likely continue as the administration vows to continue its push to overhaul Washington.

At the White House, officials were unfazed by a major legal setback to Musk. Two people familiar with the White House plans, granted anonymity because they weren’t authorized to speak publicly, say the administration plans to appeal the rulings. But in the meantime, they say this is not going to impact how the White House does business.

When it comes to reducing the size of government, “planning is moving full steam ahead,” one of the people said. In fact, they say the court rulings are helpful communication tools to build a “narrative about out of control liberal judges telling the executive who they can hire and fire.”

“The president, DOGE, and OPM will not be intimidated by activists who dress up in black robes,” said another White House official.

Under one judge’s decision, it appears that the administration will be allowed to move forward with its goal of firing even more federal workers — as long as it follows the proper procedures for doing so. It comes as the administration is preparing to review “reductions in force” plans submitted this week by federal agencies — which is expected to lead to an even greater number of federal employees being dismissed.

Staffers at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which includes the National Weather Service and programs that provide core data on the impacts of climate change, learned during a Wednesday internal call that it would lose at least 1,000 employees, an agency staffer told POLITICO. Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) said Thursday that the 13,000-person agency is expected to lose 10 percent of its workforce under the next round of terminations.

Three Energy Department employees said offices had to submit plans for slashing offices and detail which positions cannot be eliminated because they are essential for reasons like national security. One of those employees anticipated more cuts in the future. None knew how those recommendations would factor into final Trump administration staffing decisions.

In the hours after a Thursday order from Judge William Alsup was issued, some federal agencies like the Department of Energy began to call laid off employees back to work. Other departments, like the Department of Defense, are taking cues from the White House on how to proceed under the court order, according to a Defense Department official who was granted anonymity to speak about the sensitive matter.

Before the order came in, some federal agencies were already in the process of bringing back previously dismissed workers. Earlier this week, the Agriculture Department said it was reinstating more than 5,000 fired probationary employees after a federal civil service board ruled the firings were likely illegal and issued a temporary 45-day stay. USDA also confirmed it would provide back pay.

But according to 10 USDA employees — current and fired — the process of reinstating employees has been haphazard. As of Friday, most fired probationary employees are being told they are placed on administrative leave for the next 45 days and receiving back pay, after which many expect to be fired. Others said some of the previously fired probationary employees have not yet been contacted about the board decision or the recent court ruling. None of these fired probationary workers have fully returned to work yet. A USDA spokesperson did not return a request for comment.

The Labor Department was one of the dozen-plus agencies included in Thursday's order, though it had a negligible impact as the department had already called back probationary workers it had pushed out. Reinstated workers had already returned to their work stations, after having to go through an onboarding process — including having their fingerprints taken again, according to one probationary status worker who had their termination reversed.

A Labor Department spokesperson confirmed that the most recent ruling did not affect the status quo, due to the earlier reversal.

Federal employees at other departments say they have not heard anything from their top supervisors. Two former Education Department employees who were fired for being probationary workers said on Friday that they have not received any communications from the agency about being reinstated.

The agency is in the process of slashing its workforce nearly in half since the Trump administration took office.

Both of the employees, who were granted anonymity to speak candidly, are already in the process of interviewing for other jobs. One of the employees said they would only accept reinstatement if they don’t find another job first. The person is concerned there could be future reductions in force that would leave them jobless again.

“I certainly would accept the reinstatement to get back pay and not have a termination on my record,” the person said. “But I don’t really want to work there under these circumstances.”

Nick Niedzwiadek, Katy O'Donnell, Zack Colman, Paul McLeary, Jake Traylor and Jordan Wolman contributed to this report.