Six months after we challenged the Trump administration’s mass firing of 25,000 federal employees while on their probationary periods, a federal judge has ruled that the terminations were illegal.
Ruling in a lawsuit filed by AFGE and other allies, Judge William Alsup from the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California on Sept. 12 said OPM exceeded its authority by instructing agencies to fire employees based on fabricated performance issues.
AFGE and allies filed the lawsuit in February following OPM’s directive ordering the mass termination of probationary employees at six agencies: the Veterans Affairs, Agriculture, Interior, Energy, Defense, and Treasury departments.
Although agencies aren’t required to reinstate the terminated workers, the judge ordered agencies to send letters to affected employees stating that they were not fired for poor performance or misconduct and to update employees’ personnel files accordingly as well.
AFGE National President Everett Kelley issued the following statement in response to the ruling:
“This is another significant victory for federal employees and for all Americans. Judge Alsup’s decision makes clear that thousands of probationary workers were wrongfully fired, exposes the sham record the government relied upon, and requires the government to tell the wrongly terminated employees that OPM’s reasoning for firing them was false. AFGE, AFSCME and all our partners in this case are proud to lead this fight to preserve our non-partisan civil service and to hold this administration accountable for its unprecedented targeting of American workers.”
Since taking office in January 2025, President Trump has issued a series of unlawful executive orders, and taken several unlawful actions, seeking to shut down congressionally mandated agencies, fire and displace federal workers, outlaw their unions, and gut merit systems protections.
Read More
A federal judge has ordered the Department of Veterans Affairs to reinstate the union contract covering 320,000 VA employees represented by AFGE in a major victory over the implementation of President Trump’s union-busting executive orders.
Read More
As the Department of Homeland Security shutdown reaches the one-month mark with no end in sight, AFGE leaders are calling on Congress to ensure all DHS workers are paid.
Read More
