Second federal judge orders Trump administration to rehire fired probationary government workers

Source: CBS News/AP

Updated on: March 13, 2025 / 10:34 PM EDT


A judge in Maryland has blocked for now the mass firings of probationary federal workers and ordered thousands of fired probationary workers to be reinstated, marking the second decision of its kind in a day.

The order from U.S. District Judge James Bredar came late Thursday in a lawsuit filed by 19 states and the District of Columbia against multiple federal agencies alleging the mass firings are illegal.

"In this case, the government conducted massive layoffs, but it gave no advance notice," Bredar wrote. "It claims it wasn't required to because, it says, it dismissed each one of these thousands of probationary employees for 'performance' or other individualized reasons. On the record before the Court, this isn't true. There were no individualized assessments of employees. They were all just fired. Collectively."

The states contend the Trump administration blindsided them by ignoring laws set out for large-scale layoffs, which already are having an impact on state governments as they try to help the suddenly jobless. At least 24,000 probationary employees have been terminated since President Trump took office, the lawsuit alleges, though efforts by the judge to get an estimate from a government attorney at a hearing Wednesday were unsuccessful.

Read more: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/second-federal-judge-orders-trump-administration-to-rehire-fired-probationary-government-workers/