A protester holds up a "NO MUSK" sign at the "No Kings on President's Day" protest in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 17, 2025. (Deirdre Heavey/Fox News Digital)
In their final brief to the Supreme Court, government attorneys argued that lower courts overstepped their authority by ordering the reinstatement of probationary employees last month.
The legal battle stems from the termination of an estimated 16,000 probationary federal employees since President Donald Trump took office, prompting a wave of lawsuits from Democrat-led states and former workers.
Probationary employees are particularly vulnerable to termination because they lack the civil service protections granted to full-time federal workers, which typically take effect after a designated period of service.
Justice Department lawyers have warned that forcing the government to rehire those employees would create "chaos" across federal agencies. They have also maintained that the firings were tied to poor performance – an allegation the dismissed employees strongly dispute.
JUDGE BLOCKS TRUMP ADMIN FROM FIRING FEDERAL PROBATIONARY WORKERS
President Donald Trump signs an executive order in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C., on Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025. (Yuri Gripas/Abaca/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
The plaintiffs, represented by the American Federation of Government Employees, argued that the terminations have already caused significant disruption across the federal government, impairing agencies’ ability to carry out critical functions.
Most recently, a federal judge in Maryland expanded an order this week requiring the Trump administration to rehire terminated probationary federal employees. The ruling also barred the administration from carrying out future mass firings of probationary staff unless done in accordance with federal laws governing employee removals.
That includes providing affected employees with a 60-day notice period, as required under current civil service regulations.
In a Supreme Court filing, Solicitor General John Sauer argued that the lower court’s injunction had forced the Trump administration to rehire federal workers "despite agencies’ judgments about what best serves their missions."
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"Courts do not have license to block federal workplace reforms at the behest of anyone who wishes to retain particular levels of general government services," the government wrote in its brief.
The administration argues that reinstatement is not an appropriate remedy in this case, claiming it exceeds the court’s authority – and that even if the terminations were deemed "unlawful," that still would not justify such a sweeping order.
Breanne Deppisch is a national politics reporter for Fox News Digital covering the Trump administration, with a focus on the Justice Department, FBI, and other national news.
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