Donald Trump blasts court ruling on reinstating workers: ‘Judge putting himself in position of US president’

US President Donald Trump defended his mass layoffs of probationary federal employees, stating that the Supreme Court may need to intervene after two federal judges ruled against his administration’s decision.

The layoffs, impacting approximately 30,000 workers across multiple agencies, have sparked legal battles, with courts in California and Maryland issuing orders to halt the dismissals and reinstate affected employees.

“It is absolutely ridiculous. It’s a judge that’s putting himself in the position of the president of the United States, who was elected by close to 80 million votes,” Trump said aboard Air Force One on Sunday. “That’s a very dangerous thing for our country.”

Trump further suggested that the courts should not have the authority to reinstate workers dismissed under his federal workforce reduction plan.

“A judge wants us to pay them, even if they don’t know they exist and if they exist,” Trump said. “And I don’t think that’s going to be happening.”

Judicial rulings against mass firings

Two federal judges—Judge William Alsup in California and Judge James Bredar in Maryland—issued rulings against the mass firings. Alsup ordered that thousands of probationary employees be reinstated.

Alsup’s ruling: Stated that the mass layoffs were illegal and that the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) lacked the authority to execute them.

Bredar’s ruling: Ordered the firings to cease for two weeks, stating the Trump administration ignored proper procedures.

Alsup’s statement:

“It is sad, a sad day when our government would fire some good employee and say it was based on performance when they know good and well that’s a lie.”

Trump’s mass layoffs and legal pushback

As part of his plan to shrink the federal workforce, Trump ordered layoffs across six major agencies:

Department of Veterans Affairs, Department of Agriculture, Department of Defense, Department of Energy, Department of the Interior, and Department of the Treasury.

The American Federation of Government Employees and 20 Democratic-led states have filed lawsuits, arguing that the dismissals violated federal employment regulations. Many of the 30,000 fired employees dispute the administration’s claims of poor performance.

Trump Administration files appeal

The Trump administration has reportedly appealed the rulings, arguing that states do not have the authority to challenge federal employment policies. Trump’s legal team insists that probationary workers—who lack full civil service protections—can be let go based on performance issues, not requiring the same legal processes as permanent employees.