Judge rules that thousands of dismissed federal employees must be reinstated immediately
U.S. District Judge William Alsup referred to the mass firings as a "sham" strategy employed by the central human resources office of the government.
TroibNews 
A federal judge has mandated federal agencies to rehire tens of thousands of probationary employees who were dismissed during President Donald Trump’s controversial efforts to significantly reduce the size of the federal bureaucracy.
U.S. District Judge William Alsup characterized the widespread terminations as a “sham” strategy devised by the government’s central human resources office to evade legal mandates associated with workforce reductions.
Alsup, appointed by President Bill Clinton and based in San Francisco, instructed the departments of Defense, Treasury, Energy, Interior, Agriculture, and Veterans Affairs to “immediately” reinstate all dismissed probationary employees. He asserted that the Office of Personnel Management had made an “unlawful” decision to terminate these individuals.
This ruling stands as one of the most extensive rejections of the Trump administration's attempts to shrink the bureaucracy and is anticipated to be challenged on appeal.
The judge also criticized the Justice Department's management of the case, expressing concerns that lawyers from the Trump administration were concealing information about who was responsible for the mass firings.
“You will not bring the people in here to be cross-examined. You’re afraid to do so because you know cross-examination would reveal the truth,” Alsup told a DOJ attorney during a hearing on Thursday. “I tend to doubt that you’re telling me the truth. … I’m tired of seeing you stonewall on trying to get at the truth.”
Additionally, Alsup pointed out that the administration appeared to circumvent federal laws governing workforce reductions by attributing the firings to “performance,” which he suggested was not the actual reason. He criticized this tactic as “a gimmick.”
“It is sad, a sad day when our government would fire some good employee and say it was based on performance when they know good and well that’s a lie,” Alsup remarked.
Aarav Patel for TROIB News
U.S. District Judge William Alsup characterized the widespread terminations as a “sham” strategy devised by the government’s central human resources office to evade legal mandates associated with workforce reductions.
Alsup, appointed by President Bill Clinton and based in San Francisco, instructed the departments of Defense, Treasury, Energy, Interior, Agriculture, and Veterans Affairs to “immediately” reinstate all dismissed probationary employees. He asserted that the Office of Personnel Management had made an “unlawful” decision to terminate these individuals.
This ruling stands as one of the most extensive rejections of the Trump administration's attempts to shrink the bureaucracy and is anticipated to be challenged on appeal.
The judge also criticized the Justice Department's management of the case, expressing concerns that lawyers from the Trump administration were concealing information about who was responsible for the mass firings.
“You will not bring the people in here to be cross-examined. You’re afraid to do so because you know cross-examination would reveal the truth,” Alsup told a DOJ attorney during a hearing on Thursday. “I tend to doubt that you’re telling me the truth. … I’m tired of seeing you stonewall on trying to get at the truth.”
Additionally, Alsup pointed out that the administration appeared to circumvent federal laws governing workforce reductions by attributing the firings to “performance,” which he suggested was not the actual reason. He criticized this tactic as “a gimmick.”
“It is sad, a sad day when our government would fire some good employee and say it was based on performance when they know good and well that’s a lie,” Alsup remarked.
Aarav Patel for TROIB News
