Trump Administration moves Supreme Court to halt judge’s order on reinstatement of thousands of fired federal workers

The Trump administration has taken its case to the US Supreme Court, seeking to overturn a lower court order mandating the reinstatement of thousands of fired federal employees. The Justice Department filed the appeal on Monday (March 24), challenging a March 13 ruling by District Judge William Alsup, which blocked the administration's efforts to downsize the federal workforce.

Judge blocks termination of probationary employees

Judge Alsup ruled that the government had improperly terminated thousands of probationary employees across six federal agencies. He cast doubt on the administration’s justification that the mass firings were due to poor job performance.

"It is 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," Alsup said during a hearing.

Impact on Federal agencies

The ruling applies to employees at the US Department of Defense, Department of Veterans Affairs, Department of Agriculture, Department of Energy, Department of the Interior, and the Treasury Department.

Probationary employees, typically those with less than one year in their current roles, have fewer job protections than other government workers but can generally only be dismissed for poor performance.

Trump and Musk’s push to shrink government

The move to reduce the federal workforce is a key initiative of Donald Trump in his second term and has been backed by billionaire advisor Elon Musk. The administration has sought to overhaul the bureaucracy by cutting down on what it calls inefficiency within government agencies.

Opposition and legal challenges

Unions, nonprofit organisations, and the state of Washington challenged the firings, arguing that the US Office of Personnel Management had exceeded its authority. Alsup agreed with the challengers, ruling against the mass dismissals.