The Office of Personnel Management does not have the authority to order the firings, Judge William Alsup from the U.S. District for Northern California said, voicing incredulity of the administration’s argument that it had opted to retain only the highest-performing in mission-critical roles. Alsup’s temporary restraining order did not appear to reinstate those who were already fired, though the full impact of the decision was not immediately clear. The judge said he would follow up shortly with more details on his decision.
“The Office of Personnel Management does not have any authority whatsoever under any statute in the history of the universe to hire and fire employees at another agency,” Alsup said.
The American Federation of Government Employees and other groups brought the suit, arguing the Trump administration had ignored federal laws governing probationary employee staff and had essentially issued reductions in force without following the proper procedures.
OPM and the Justice Department had argued AFGE did not bring the case to the proper jurisdiction and should instead seek remediation before the Federal Labor Relations Authority or the Merit Systems Protection Board. They also argued the president holds the authority to hire and fire anyone he wants in the executive branch.
Alsup said, however, that firing federal workers without proper cause is "just not right in our country." He will next hold a hearing on March 13.
The Trump administration posited it never ordered the firings, despite previously announcing it had done so. On Feb. 13, OPM had a call with agency human resources leaders directing them to begin terminating employees in ..
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