Thousands of Federal Staff to Lose Jobs Again Due to Ruling (1)

Thousands of the federal employees once fired by the Trump administration are expected to lose their jobs a second time after a judge narrowed his earlier ruling that had demanded a nationwide rehiring of probationary workers.

Judge James Bredar of the US District Court for the District of Maryland said in a late Tuesday order that 20 federal agencies must reinstate their probationary workers. But they shouldn’t rehire those that live or work outside of Washington, D.C., or one of the 19 states that challenged the workforce cuts through the litigation.

Bredar also ordered the government to halt any further staff cuts that could include workers in the plaintiff states, unless they are done in compliance with the laws governing federal government layoffs.

The number of federal agency probationary employees who may now be fired again is currently difficult to quantify. But the number of IRS employees exceeds 1,600 in just Texas, Georgia, and Florida—only three of 31 non-litigant states.

Bredar issued a March 13 decision to broadly pause thousands of terminations at the agencies. The Trump administration said it began putting more than 25,000 probationary employees on paid leave beginning in mid-March in response.

The administration is likely to appeal Tuesday’s decision, creating more uncertainty. It also asked the US Supreme Court March 24 to take a similar case that originated in California.

At issue in the Maryland case is a law that demands the federal government give states 60 days’ notice before it begins mass layoffs. The Trump administration didn’t meet that requirement when it moved to terminate federal workers across the government, depriving the plaintiff states of time to prepare for growth in demand for social services, Bredar said.

He directed the Trump administration to give probationary federal employees 60 days notice if agencies decide to fire them in the future. They must also notify the states where those employees live and work, he said.

The Office of Personnel Management, the federal government’s HR division, did not immediately respond to Bloomberg Law’s request for comment.

The case is Maryland v. USDA, D. Md., 1:25-cv-00748, 4/1/25.