DOJ Appeals Order Barring HR Office From Directing More Cuts (1)

The Trump administration is seeking to pause a federal judge’s order prohibiting its personnel office from directing agencies to fire more probationary employees.

The Justice Department asked the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit Wednesday to reverse a decision barring the Office of Personnel Management from ordering six federal agencies to fire the workers. The order came from Judge William Alsup of the US District Court for the Northern District of California.

The appeal is another volley in the Trump administration’s legal battle to shrink the size of the federal workforce. Federal agencies fired tens of thousands of probationary workers in February, a group that includes new hires and recently promoted workers. At the center of the case challenging the firings is the OPM, which directed federal agencies to fire the employees, according to a court filing.

The administration is separately appealing a related Alsup order requiring the agencies to reinstate 16,000 probationary workers. That ruling covered employees laid off around Feb. 13 by the the Departments of Defense, Veterans Affairs, Energy, Interior, Agriculture, and Treasury.

The Ninth Circuit said in March the agencies must keep rehiring the employees while it considers the appeal. The Supreme Court later sided with the Trump administration, saying nine of the groups challenging Alsup’s order didn’t have standing to sue. The high court paused Alsup’s directive while the Ninth Circuit considers the appeal.

A similar case is making its way through the courts on the East Coast. That case involves 20 federal agencies and more than 30,000 probationary workers.

The case is Am. Fed. of Gov’t Emp. AFL-CIO v. OPM, N.D. Cal., 3:25-cv-01780, petition filed 4/23/25.