Federal Workers Sue to End Trump’s Removal of Job Safeguards (1)

A coalition of federal employees sued the Trump administration to stop the termination of job protections for career staff, claiming the administration doesn’t have the power to do so.

The National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association, a group that advocates for retired government workers, accused the Office of Personnel Management of violating the Administrative Procedure Act when it directed agencies to compile lists of career positions that should lose certain job protections by late April. That law requires agencies collect opinions from the public before implementing a new regulation.

The Trump administration did not follow that process when it made the directive, the group argued in the complaint filed in the US District Court for the District of Columbia.

It’s the latest lawsuit seeking to stop President Donald Trump from shrinking the federal workforce.

Trump on his first day in office signed an executive order that created a new category of career employees, known as “policy/career,” that his administration can more easily fire without violating civil service laws.

Labor groups filed three other lawsuits seeking to end that order.

Thursday’s lawsuit also includes a challenge to OPM Acting Director Charles Ezell’s directive to consider placing employees that evaluate grant applications, write agency budget requests, and interact with the media in the new “policy/career” category.

Ezell said in January Trump will make the “final determination” about which positions will be classified as “policy/career,” which puts an employee at risk of dismissal under the executive order.

The Government Accountability Project, a non-partisan organization that represents whistleblowers, is also a plaintiff in the suit.

“This scheme harms both federal employees and the public they serve by depriving Americans of a workforce with the expertise to deliver essential goods and services,” non-profit group Protect Democracy and Selendy Gay PLLC, the plaintiff’s attorneys, said in a statement.

The Department of Justice did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The case is Government Accountability Project v. Office of Personnel Management, D.D.C., 1:25-cv-00347, complaint filed 2/6/25.