A federal judge in San Francisco has ruled that mass firings of probationary federal employees were likely unlawful, dealing what appears to be a temporary rhetorical setback, though not a practical one, to the Trump administration’s efforts to reform the federal workforce.
The ruling, issued by U.S. District Judge William Alsup, puts a temporary hold on the Office of Personnel Management’s (OPM) involvement in dismissing probationary employees across various federal agencies. The lawsuit, filed by five labor unions and nonprofit organizations, challenged the legality of the firings, arguing that OPM overstepped its authority.
The Debate Over Federal Workforce Reform
The Trump administration has made reducing the size of the federal workforce a priority, largely through the efforts of the newly-established Department of Government Efficiency, pointing to…
