Trump Admin to Appeal Rulings Reinstating Fired Federal Workers: White House

The White House said on March 14 that the Trump administration would appeal the federal court rulings requiring reinstatement of probationary government workers who judges said were fired unlawfully at various agencies.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on Friday the injunction was “entirely unconstitutional” and the administration will respond aggressively.

“Fighting back by appealing. Fighting back by using the full weight of the White House’s counsels’ office,” she said.

U.S. District Judge William Alsup ruled that the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) does not have the authority to order the firings, suggesting there is evidence the office unlawfully directed the termination of newer workers at the departments.

Six agencies—the U.S. Treasury Department and the Departments of Defense, Agriculture, Energy, Interior, and Veterans’ Affairs—must reinstate the employees they fired on or around Feb. 14 at the guidance of OPM and its acting director, the order states.

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It’s not clear exactly how many workers are being reinstated, but public statements from three of the agencies suggest the number is at least 9,100.

U.S. District Judge James Bredar issued a broader second ruling, temporarily reinstating probationary workers at 18 federal agencies.

“In this case, the government conducted massive layoffs, but it gave no advance notice. It claims it wasn’t required to because, it says, it dismissed each one of these thousands of probationary employees for ‘performance’ or other individualized reasons,” Bredar said.

“On the record before the court, this isn’t true. There were no individualized assessments of employees. They were all just fired. Collectively.”

Leavitt accused the two judges of overstepping executive power.

“And as the executive of the executive branch, the president has the ability to hire or fire, and you have these lower-level judges who are trying to block this president’s agenda. It’s very clear,” she told reporters on March 14.

The case continues a long string of ongoing lawsuits challenging the Trump administration’s mass firings of probationary workers in its quest to overhaul and remold federal bureaucracy.

She also accused the judges who ruled against the administration’s agenda of being “partisan activists.”

“It’s very clear that there are judicial activists throughout our judicial branch who are trying to block this president’s executive authority. We are going to fight back,” Leavitt said.

Zachary Stieber contributed to this report.