A federal judge has ruled that President Donald Trump’s administration cannot fire thousands of probationary federal workers in 19 states and Washington, D.C. The decision limits an earlier ruling that applied nationwide.
U.S. District Judge James Bredar in Baltimore, Maryland, said federal agencies must follow the required procedures when laying off large groups of government workers.
The administration had fired about 24,500 employees in February without informing state and local governments, which violated the rules. However, Judge Bredar stated that his ruling only applies to the employees who work or live in the states and Washington, D.C., that filed a lawsuit against the mass firings.
Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown, whose office led the lawsuit, rejected the administration’s explanation that the firings were due to poor performance. He called it a “coordinated effort to eliminate the federal workforce” and said the Trump administration had broken the law.
Probationary employees are typically new to their jobs, though some may have been with the federal government for years.
Earlier, on March 13, Judge Bredar had ruled that the firings were likely illegal and ordered 18 federal agencies to reinstate the fired employees while the case is being reviewed. This latest decision will remain in effect until the lawsuit is resolved, which could take several months or more.
Many of the affected federal workers live in Maryland and Washington, D.C. States like California, New York, and Illinois are also part of the lawsuit.
The Trump administration has appealed the ruling, arguing that the firings were legal and that the judge did not have the authority to order the workers to be reinstated. In March, a U.S. appeals court panel declined to pause the ruling, though one judge criticized the broad scope of the decision.
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