The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday paused a lower court’s order requiring six federal agencies to rehire thousands of fired probationary workers.
“The Supreme Court blocked a California judge’s order to rehire 16,000 probationary federal employees,” FOX 5 DC noted.
The high court’s unsigned order allows the Trump administration to move forward with reducing the size of the federal government while a lawsuit plays out.
WATCH:
BREAKING: SCOTUS just ruled in Trump's favor again!
They blocked a lower court ruling that ordered the administration to rehire 16,000 federal employees.
HUGE WIN!!! pic.twitter.com/qPWzU0IgTL
— Gunther Eagleman™ (@GuntherEagleman) April 8, 2025
Per CBS News:
In an unsigned order, the Supreme Court said the injunction issued by the district court in mid-March “was based solely on the allegations of the nine non-profit-organization plaintiffs in this case. But under established law, those allegations are presently insufficient to support the organizations'” legal right to sue, a concept known as standing.
Its stay will remain in place will litigation plays out. Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson said they would have denied the Justice Department’s request for relief.
Probationary workers, generally those who were still in one or two-year trial periods, were the early targets of mass firings that are part of President Trump’s government-cutting initiative. Many have been left in limbo since mid-February, when they were fired and then had their employment restored weeks later as a result of court orders.
Labor unions and nonprofit groups that brought the lawsuit challenging the firings vowed to continue fighting for probationary workers.
🚨 #BREAKING: The Supreme Court sided with President Trump, OVERTURNING an activist judge’s order to re-hire over 16,000 federal “probationary employees”
MASSIVE WIN FOR TRUMP, ELON, AND DOGE! 🇺🇸
The judicial coup is crumbling! 🔥 pic.twitter.com/edWbqryzRK
— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) April 8, 2025
BREAKING: Supreme Court says Trump administration not required to immediately reinstate 16,000 fired probationary employees at six federal agencies, saying that various organizations lack standing to challenge the firings.
Sotomayor, Jackson publicly dissent. #SCOTUS pic.twitter.com/9Or3N3QRtz
— Jimmy Hoover (@JimmyHooverDC) April 8, 2025
FOX 5 DC reports:
A second lawsuit, filed in Baltimore, also resulted in an order blocking the firings at the same six agencies, plus roughly a dozen more.
U.S. District Judge James Bredar, an Obama appointee, found that the administration ignored laws set out for large-scale layoffs. Bredar ordered the firings halted for at least two weeks and the workforce returned to the status quo before the layoffs began.
19 states and Washington, D.C. filed the lawsuit, alleging the mass firings are illegal and already having an impact on state governments as they try to help those who are suddenly jobless.
The Justice Department is separately appealing the Maryland order.
Probationary workers have been targeted for layoffs across the federal government because they’re usually new to the job and lack full civil service protection. Multiple lawsuits have been filed over the mass firings.
Lawyers for the government maintain the mass firings were lawful because individual agencies reviewed and determined whether employees on probation were fit for continued employment.
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