The Loss of Probation Employees: The White House’s First Call to Arms: A District Judge’s Decision Defending Executive Power from the Executive Branch
Thousands of fired federal employees will have to return to work within the next week after a San Francisco district judge ruled that they were terminated without cause.
Judge William Alsup, who was an appointee of former President Bill Clinton, said it was a sad day when the government would fire someone and say it was based on performance.
The White House is blasting the decision. “A single judge is attempting to unconstitutionally seize the power of hiring and firing from the Executive Branch,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement. The power of the entire judiciary cannot be subverted by singular district court judges who are not bound to support the President’s agenda. If a federal district court judge would like executive powers, they can try and run for President themselves.”
In a hearing in the states’ case on Wednesday, the attorneys general argued federal agencies falsely told probationary employees – typically those in their first year or two on the job – that they were being fired because of their performance, when in fact, agencies did not evaluate employees and instead were trying to shrink their headcount through a process called a reduction in force, or RIF.
Many employees were fired for ” performance reasons” even after receiving positive feedback from their supervisors.
The judge ordered the OPM to show by the end of the next week that it had offered re-employment to all fired employee at the various departments.
Requests for comment were submitted to the agencies affected by the judge’s ruling. The VA and Interior Department don’t comment on pending litigation.
The American Federation of Government Employees is one of the groups that is in the case and the president said that they are pleased with the outcome.
In a charged, sometimes confrontational court hearing on Thursday, Judge Alsup challenged the government’s argument that OPM, which acts as the government’s HR department, had not directly ordered the termination of probationary employees but had left that decision to individual federal agencies and served merely as a coordinating body.
“The court rejects the government’s attempt to use these press releases and to read between the lines to say the agency heads made their own decision with no direction from OPM,” Alsup said.
“You will not bring the people in here to be cross-examined. Alsup told the OPM’s legal team that they’re afraid to do so because they know their cross-examination would reveal the truth. I tend to wonder if you are telling the truth.
The VoteVets Action Fund is one of the newer plaintiff’s. The chair is a retired general who claimed the ruling was a win for the veterans who rely on federal employment.
Earlier Thursday, the White House blasted the ruling issued from the bench by the federal judge in San Francisco, reinstating probationary employees at six agencies.
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The 14-day stay issued by the US District judge was in response to a case brought by 20 Democratic attorneys general.
“Lacking the notice to which they were entitled, the States weren’t ready for the impact of so many unemployed people. They are still scrambling to catch up. They remain impaired in their capacities to meet their legal obligations to their citizens,” he wrote in his memorandum explaining his decision.
He ordered 18 federal agencies to reinstate probationary workers fired through what he called “illegal RIFs” by Monday at 1 p.m. Eastern daylight time, for a period of 14 days.
The sweeping list of agencies include some not covered by other rulings, including the Departments of Health and Human Services, Education, Transportation, and Homeland Security, as well as the Environmental Protection Agency and the General Services Administration.
He excluded them from the order because they did not provide enough evidence of illegal firings at the defense department, OPM and the National Archives and Records Administration.
Rapid response teams are mandated to provide support for workers affected by mass layoffs in states. The goal of these teams is to help fired employees find a new job.
The attorneys general said that economic displacement of workers could create a cascade of instability.
In court, the states said that advance notice would have helped them quickly identify those in need of help before they were fired. They said they were forced to use extra resources trying to locate those who were terminated and saw unemployment claims shoot up.
In its defense, the government’s attorney argued that the states are not in fact experiencing injury, and that any effects of the layoffs on states would be downstream.
The government also argued that states lacked jurisdiction to bring their case to federal court, and that personnel matters involving federal employees must be channeled first through an administrative process within the federal government. It’s an argument that other courts have found compelling in cases brought by federal employee labor unions.
Bredar noted it’s the government’s prerogative to shift thousands of people out of federal employment and do it quickly, but they can’t break the law while doing so.
“If the Government wishes to continue pursuing its RIF agenda, the Government must start from square one, acting in compliance with federal law,” he wrote in his memo.
Source: A 2nd judge orders thousands of fired federal employees temporarily reinstated
The White House and the Department of Education: The New Mass Layoffs Announced by the Trump Administratinuion
The White House press secretary said that a judge was trying to take the power of hiring and firing from the Executive Branch. The president has the ability to use the power of the executive branch, but only if it is done within the bounds of the judicial branch. If the judge in the federal court wanted executive powers, they could try and run for President themselves.
The Department of Education was one of the places where the Donald Trump administration plans to fire over 1,300 employees.
The Maryland attorney general’s office declined to comment on whether it had received advanced notice of any of the mass layoffs newly announced by the Trump administration.