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The Trump administration on Tuesday acknowledged for the first time that nearly 25,000 recently hired federal workers were fired and stated that efforts were underway to reinstate them following a court ruling that deemed their terminations likely illegal, Reuters reported.
Court filings submitted late Monday in federal court in Baltimore showed that officials from 18 government agencies confirmed the reinstatement of probationary workers, who were placed on temporary administrative leave. This comes after US District Judge James Bredar ruled on March 13 that the mass firings violated federal regulations governing layoffs and ordered the affected workers to be brought back pending further litigation.
The mass firings were part of Trump’s broader effort to reshape the federal workforce. However, these court filings provide the first comprehensive accounting of the scale of the terminations, which occurred in multiple federal agencies. Among the hardest hit were the Department of the Treasury, which let go of about 7,600 workers; the Department of Agriculture, which fired about 5,700; and the Department of Health and Human Services, which terminated more than 3,200 employees.
Judge Bredar’s decision followed a lawsuit filed by 19 Democrat-led states and Washington, D.C., arguing that the firings would lead to a surge in unemployment claims and strain state services. The lawsuit, led by Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown, claimed the firings violated protections for federal employees and would create significant economic and social challenges.
Following the ruling, the Trump administration filed an appeal in a Richmond, Virginia-based appeals court, asking for the decision to be paused while the case continues. The administration also faces another legal challenge in San Francisco, where a federal judge ordered the reinstatement of probationary workers at six agencies, including several covered by Bredar’s ruling. The administration has also appealed this decision.
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