A federal judge on Thursday ordered the Trump administration to restore thousands of employees on probation fired last month of half a dozen federal agencies.
The American district judge William Alsup ordered the Trump administration to restore employees of the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Defense, the Department of Energy, the Department of Interior and the Department of the Treasury.
In this archive photo of February 21, 2002, the headquarters of the Department of Veterans Affairs of the United States is seen in Washington, DC
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He also prohibited the Personnel Management Office for issuing a guide on whether employees can be terminated.
Alsup, appointed by Clinton, also ordered the immediate discovery and deposition of the Office of Personnel Management Advisor Noah Peters, who is aligned with the Efficiency Department of the Government of Elon Musk.
The judge criticized the lawyer who represents the Department of Justice for refusing to make available to the interim director of OPM Charles Ezell for the interrogation and for withdrawing his affidavit, which the judge called “Farsa”.
“The government, I think, has tried to frustrate the judge’s ability to reach the truth of what happened here, and then establish simulated statements,” he said. “That is not the way it works in the United States District Court.”
The White House Secretary, Karoline Leavitt, criticized the judge in a statement on Thursday afternoon, promising “fighting immediately against this absurd and unconstitutional order.”
“If a Federal District Court judge would like the executive powers to try to run for the President. The Trump administration will immediately fight against this absurd and unconstitutional order,” he said in a statement.
The lawyers of the Department of Justice presented an appeal notice after the ruling, which indicates their plan to challenge the order to restore employees.
The lawyers representing a group of unions and interest groups asked Alsup to immediately restore thousands of employees from the trial government who had allegedly fired in the Ezell direction.
“There is a mountain of evidence before the court that OPM directed it. OPM’s actions were illegal. The plaintiffs have standing, and there is an irreparable damage that is happening every minute, and it is a snowball,” said Danielle Leonard, lawyer for the plaintiffs.
President Donald Trump attends a San Patricio Day event in the Eastern Hall of the White House, on March 12, 2025, in Washington.
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“You will not bring people here to be interrogated. You are afraid to do it, because, you know, the interrogation would reveal the truth. This is the United States District Court,” he said. “I tend to doubt that you are telling me the truth.”
If the Trump administration wants to reduce the size of the federal government, it would need to follow the process established in the Federal Law, Alsup said.
“The words that I give you today should not be taken as some kind of wild and crazy judge in San Francisco have said that the administration cannot participate in a reduction in force,” he said.
“The reason OPM wanted to put this” based on performance “was, at least in my opinion, a trick to avoid its act of strength reduction because the law always allows you to fire someone for their performance,” said Alsup, and added that employees finished by “performance” cannot even obtain unemployment insurance.
The judge also criticized the Government for presenting an Ezell statement that he thought was false, then withdraw and made Ezell not available for the testimony.
“You withdrew your statement instead of doing that. Come on, that’s a farce. It bothers me. I want you to know that I have been practicing or serving in this court for more than 50 years. And I know how we put ourselves in the truth, and you are not helping me to add to the truth. You are giving me press releases,” he said.
Everett Kelley, national president of the American Federation of Government employees, praised the judge’s decision.
“We are grateful for these employees and the critical work they do, and EGE will continue to fight until all federal employees who were unjustly and illegally fired receive their work,” he said in a statement.
While the judge originally suggested that the avenue played the shots could be administrative, he said that the Trump administration is trying to “tithe” and “cannibalize” the Merit Systems Protection Board when shooting and the Special Council Hampton Dellinger.
“They cheated on something that there was no jurisdiction,” Alsup said.
The judge also ordered the discovery, he said, “to achieve it in the truth because the government is saying one thing, and you are saying another.”
“I just want to say that it is a sad day when our government would shoot a good employee and I would say that it was based on performance when they know well and well, that is a lie,” said Alsup. “That should not have been done in our country. It was a farce to try to avoid legal requirements. “
