Yesterday, the U.S. Supreme Court issued an unsigned order halting a lower court ruling that had required the Trump administration to reinstate over 16,000 probationary federal employees fired from six agencies: the Departments of Defense, Veterans Affairs, Agriculture, Energy, Interior, and Treasury.
This decision came in response to an emergency appeal from the administration, which argued that U.S. District Judge William Alsup’s March 13, 2025, injunction in San Francisco overstepped judicial authority and disrupted executive branch personnel management. Alsup had ruled that the mass firings, directed by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), were unlawful because OPM lacked the authority to order such terminations and because the process bypassed federal regulations, including those for reductions in force (RIFs).
The Supreme Court’s brief ruling focused on the legal standing of the nine nonprofit organizations that had secured Alsup’s injunction. The Court determined these groups lacked the right to sue, effectively pausing the reinstatement order without addressing the broader merits of the case (e.g., union claims or the legality of the firings themselves). Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented, though no detailed reasoning was provided in the unsigned order.
Practically, this decision has limited immediate impact on five of the six agencies (all except Defense), as they are also covered by a separate Maryland lawsuit requiring reinstatement of workers in 19 states and Washington, D.C. In that case, U.S. District Judge James Bredar in Baltimore ordered 18 agencies, including five from the California lawsuit (excluding Defense), to reinstate about 24,500 probationary workers in 19 states and D.C. This temporary restraining order, issued March 13, 2025, and extended to April 1, was upheld by the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals after the administration’s request to pause it was denied. Unlike Alsup’s order, Bredar’s requires only paid administrative leave, not full reinstatement, and remains in effect. The administration has appealed to the Fourth Circuit, with potential Supreme Court review looming.
The administration had targeted probationary employees—those typically with less than one or two years in their roles—as part of a broader effort to shrink the federal workforce. The Supreme Court’s action aligns with the administration’s argument that Alsup’s order infringed on executive powers, though it leaves open the possibility of further litigation on different grounds.
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