The consecutive rulings were the most serious setback yet for efforts by Trump and his top adviser, Elon Musk, to drastically shrink the federal bureaucracy. Government agencies must submit plans for a second wave of mass layoffs and cut their budgets by Thursday.

U.S. District Judge James Bredar in Baltimore agreed with 20 Democratic-led states that 18 of the agencies that had laid off probationary employees en masse in recent weeks had violated federal employee firing rules.

Bredar's injunction targets, among others, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and the U.S. Agency for International Development. All three are in the crosshairs of the Trump administration when it comes to deregulation and cost-cutting.

Other agencies affected by the court order include the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Department of Commerce, the Department of Education, the Department of Energy, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Department of the Interior, the Department of Labor, the Department of Transportation, the Department of the Treasury, and the Department of Veterans Affairs.

While the government argued that it had laid off each employee for performance or other individual reasons, the judge ruled this was not the case. The job cuts would therefore be a form of mass layoffs, requiring prior notification to states, which are obligated to assist their newly unemployed citizens.

“The sheer number of employees laid off within a matter of days undermines any argument that these layoffs were due to the unsatisfactory performance or conduct of individual employees,” wrote Bredar, an appointee of Democratic President Barack Obama.

His decision came hours after U.S. District Judge William Alsup ordered the reinstatement of probationary employees from six agencies, including the U.S. Department of Defense, which was not covered by the Maryland ruling, during a hearing in San Francisco.

Alsup said the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM), the human resources department of federal agencies, had wrongly ordered those agencies to lay off employees en masse, even though it had no authority to do so.

"It's a sad day when our government fires a good employee and claims it was due to performance, knowing full well that's a lie," said Alsup, an appointee of former President Bill Clinton, a Democrat.

In a statement released after Alsup's decision, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the administration would "strike back immediately."

"The president has the authority to exercise the power of the entire executive branch. Individual district judges cannot abuse the power of the entire judiciary to thwart the president's plans," Leavitt said.

24,000 PROBATIONARY WORKERS

Trump and Musk, the architect of the government's Department of Government Efficiency, are pursuing an aggressive campaign to reduce the federal workforce, which numbered about 2.3 million when Trump took office in January.

The first wave of mass layoffs focused on parolees, who have limited grounds for appeal. At least 24,000 employees have been laid off since Trump's return to office, according to Democratic-led states that filed lawsuits challenging the firings last week.

Parole officers typically serve in their current position for less than a year, although some are long-serving federal employees. They enjoy fewer protections against termination than other government employees but can generally only be fired for poor performance.

In their lawsuit, the states argue that by laying off employees in bulk, federal agencies conducted mass layoffs that were supposed to be governed by a series of regulations. However, the agencies failed to follow these procedures, such as providing 60 days' notice to state and local governments.

The states say the layoffs have led to a sudden increase in unemployment claims and higher demand for social benefits.

The Trump administration declares that federal agencies can fire probationary employees for virtually any reason. The OPM stated in February that the probationary period is "a continuation of the application process and not a guarantee of permanent employment."

The lawsuit before Alsup was brought by unions, nonprofit organizations, and the state of Washington. They claim the mass layoffs were unlawful because they were ordered by the OPM and not left to the discretion of individual agencies.

The plaintiffs include the American Federation of Government Employees, which represents 800,000 federal employees. Union president Everett Kelley said in a statement that Alsup's decision was a significant victory against "an administration hell-bent on crippling federal agencies and their work in the interests of the American public."

Last month, Alsup temporarily blocked OPM from requiring agencies to fire probationary employees, but at the time declined to require the reinstatement of the fired employees. The plaintiffs subsequently amended their lawsuit to include the agencies that fired probationary employees.

The Merit Systems Protection Board, which reviews appeals by federal employees after their dismissal, ordered the Department of Agriculture earlier this month to at least temporarily rehire nearly 6,000 probationary workers.
















Source: Reuters