Court Reinstates Federal Workers Fired Under Trump Administration

The Hill reported that a federal appeals court upheld on Monday the ruling of a lower court to reinstate thousands of probationary federal workers across six federal agencies, who were fired by the Trump Administration.

The Court of Appeals of the 9th Circuit, in a 2-1 ruling, refused to grant the Trump Administration’s request for an administrative stay of Judge William Alsup’s decision last week, ordering the Treasury, Veterans Affairs, Agriculture, Defense, Energy and Interior Departments to reinstate probationary workers who he claimed were improperly terminated.

The status quo would not be preserved by an administrative stay. The 9th Circuit said that it would have the exact opposite effect — it would upset the status quo, and flip it upside down.

U.S. Circuit Judge Bridget Bade, a Trump appointee, dissented from the majority. Barry Silverman and Ana de Alba, part of the majority, were Democrat-appointed judges. Bade warned of a “potential whiplash effect,” writing, “A limited administrative stay is necessary to preserve the status quo as it existed before the district court’s preliminary injunction.”

De Alba was nominated in April 2023 by Joe Biden, the former president. Silverman was nominated in November 1997 by Bill Clinton.

Alsup, a senior District Court Judge for the Northern District of California, decided that the White House would not accept. Alsup said in a hearing that it was “a sad day” when the government fired a good employee and claimed it was because of performance when they knew full well it wasn’t true.

Alsup also said that the government had every right to reduce its staffing but it must be done correctly and with good reason. He cited several “reduction of force” orders from various agencies as examples.

The White House described it as “absurd” and “unconstitutional.”

Karoline L. Leavitt, White House Press Secretary said: “The president has the right to exercise all the executive branch’s power. A single district court judge cannot abuse the full power of the judiciary in order to undermine the president’s agenda.”