The judge orders thousands of reintegrated federal workers; Slams Declaration of the “Shon” government
A federal judge ordered Trump administration on Thursday to restore thousands of probationary employees linked last month to half a dozen federal agencies.
US District Judge William Alsup ordered the Trump administration to restore employees of the Veterans Department, the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Energy, the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of the Treasury.
In this February 21, 2002, file photo, the building of the head office of the Veterans Department is visible in Washington, DC
Karen Ciders / AFP via Getty Images, file
He also prohibited the staff management office from publishing advice on employee termination.
Alsup, one named by Clinton, also ordered the immediate discovery and the deposition of the main personnel management advisor, Noah Peters, who is aligned with the Ministry of Elon Musk’s Government.
The judge criticized the lawyer representing the Ministry of Justice for refusing to make the acting director of the OPM, Charles Ezell, available for the counter-examination and for having withdrawn his declaration under oath, that the judge called a “imposture”.
“The government, I believe, has tried to frustrate the judge’s ability to go to the truth of what happened here, and then present Sham statements,” he said. “This is not how it works before the American district court.”
The white house press secretary Karoline Leavitt criticized the judge in a statement Thursday afternoon, promising to “immediately retaliate against this absurd and unconstitutional order”.
“If a judge of the Federal District Court wishes executive powers, he can try to present himself to the presidency themselves. The Trump administration will immediately retaliate against this absurd and unconstitutional order,” she said in a statement.
The lawyers of the Ministry of Justice filed a notice of appeal following the decision, reporting their plan to challenge the order to restore employees.
Lawyers representing a group of unions and interest groups asked Alsup to immediately restore thousands of employees of the Probation government who had been dismissed under the leadership of Ezell.
“There is a mountain of evidence in court according to which OPM led it. OPM’s actions were illegal. The complainants were standing, and there is an irreparable damage that occurs every minute, and it is snowball,” said Danielle Leonard, lawyer for the applicants.
President Donald Trump attends an event in Saint-Patrick in the East House Hall on March 12, 2025, in Washington.
Kayla Bartkowski / Getty Images
“You will not bring people here to be counter-examined. You are afraid to do it, because, you know, the counter-examination would reveal the truth. It is the American district court,” he said. “I tend to doubt that you tell me the truth.”
If the Trump administration wishes to reduce the size of the federal government, it should follow the process established in federal law, said Alsup.
“The words that I give you today should not be taken as a kind of wild and crazy judge in San Francisco said that the administration cannot engage in a reduction in force,” he said.
“The reason why OPM wanted to put this” according to performance “was, at least in my opinion, a gadget to avoid their law reduction because the law always allows you to dismiss someone for performance,” said Alsup, adding that employees dismissed for “performance” cannot even obtain unemployment insurance.
The judge also criticized the government for submitting a declaration of Ezell which he believed to be false, then withdrawn it and made Ezell unavailable for testimonies.
“You have withdrawn his statement rather than doing it. Go, it’s an imposture. It bothers me. I want you to know that I had been practicing or served in this court for more than 50 years. And I know how we get the truth, and you do not help me add to the truth. You give me press releases-simulated documents,” he said.
Everett Kelley, national president of the American Federation of Government employees, praised the judge’s decision.
“We are grateful to these employees and for the critical work they do, and Afge will continue to fight until all the federal employees who have been unjustly and illegally dismissed are given to their jobs,” he said in a statement.
While the judge originally suggested that the avenue to contest the layoffs could be administrative, he noted that the Trump administration is trying to “decimate” and “cannibalize” the Merit Systems Protection Council by pulling the head and a special Hampton Dellinger lawyer.
“I was misleading on something that there was no competence,” said Alsup.
The judge also ordered the discovery, he said, “to get it in truth because the government says one thing, and you say another.”
“I just want to say that it is a sad day when our government would dismiss a good employee and said it was based on performance when they know well and well it is a lie,” said Alsup. “It shouldn’t have been done in our country. It was an imposture in order to try to avoid legal requirements. »»
