Trump administration rehiring nearly 25K fired workers after court order, documents show
FILE-Protesters rally outside the Theodore Roosevelt Federal Building headquarters of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management on February 05, 2025 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
Over 24,000 probationary workers who were fired by the Trump administration are in the process of being rehired after a federal judge ruled the firings were unlawful.
Which federal agencies are the workers being rehired?
Local perspective:
Judge William Alsup ordered the Trump administration to rehire the workers who were recently hired within the past year who were fired on February 13 and February 14 from six government agencies: the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Defense, the Department of Energy, the Department of the Interior, the Treasury Department, and the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Court filings obtained by Reuters noted that most of the government agencies fired a few hundred workers. The Treasury Department fired roughly 7,600 people, the Department of Agriculture terminated 5,700 and the Department of Health and Human Services fired over 3,200.
RELATED: DOGE latest: What is a probationary worker?
Forbes reported that the judge also extended a previous order issued in February, which revoked the Trump administration’s firings of probationary officials at the National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management and Fish and Wildlife Service (divisions of the Department of Interior), and the Department of Veterans Affairs, Department of Defense and Small Business Administration.
Lawsuit filed on behalf of fired federal workers
The backstory:
Labor unions representing federal workers filed a lawsuit against the Office of Personnel Management.
OPM officials sent memos to probationary employees within the federal government asserting the workers were being fired for "performance reasons" —even for employees who received satisfactory performance reviews.
RELATED: Fired federal employees search for work but struggle to replace their old jobs
According to Forbes, Judge William Alsup ruled this act was illegal because OPM does not have the authority to fire other agencies’ employees itself.
What does this mean for the Trump administration?
What's next:
Although a federal judge ruled that the Trump administration must rehire the probationary workers, USA Today reported that President Donald Trump and the Department of Government Efficiency will continue their attempts to reduce the federal government by getting rid of federal agencies, including the Department of Education.
The Source: Information for this story was provided by Forbes, USA Today, and Reuters. This story was reported from Washington, D.C.