Supreme Court clears way for Trump admin to fire some probationary workers 

The Supreme Court sided with the Trump administration Tuesday by enabling officials to fire thousands of federal workers in their probationary period, saying the government employee unions that sued don’t have legal standing. 

The emergency ruling, for now, lifts one of two lower court orders reversing the mass terminations. The other injunction, which has not yet reached the high court, remains in effect and still protects many employees’ jobs.

“The District Court’s injunction 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’ standing,” the court wrote in its unsigned ruling. 

Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson, both members of the court’s liberal wing, publicly dissented. 

Sotomayor did not explain her reasoning, but Jackson said the Trump administration hadn’t “demonstrated urgency” to demand the high court intervene on its emergency docket at this stage of the case.

President Trump and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) have looked to rapidly reshape the federal bureaucracy, sparking dozens of lawsuits playing out in courtrooms across the country. 

Democratic-led states, government unions and individual employees have filed several lawsuits alleging the administration did not follow proper procedures in firing probationary employees, who are generally in their first or second year in a given position.

The administration appealed to the high court after a San Francisco-based federal judge granted unions’ request to reinstate 16,000 probationary employees across six federal departments: Veterans Affairs, Agriculture, Defense, Energy, Interior and Treasury. 

“Courts do not have license to block federal workplace reforms at the behest of anyone who wishes to retain particular levels of general government services,” Solicitor General D. John Sauer wrote in court filings. 

The unions and other plaintiffs called the ruling “deeply disappointing” but insisted it is “only a momentary pause.”

“Despite this setback, our coalition remains unwavering in fighting for these workers who were wronged by the administration, and in protecting the freedoms of the American people. This battle is far from over,” they said in a statement.

Though the Supreme Court lifted that injunction, many of the affected employees’ jobs remain indefinitely protected under a Maryland-based federal judge’s order in another lawsuit. 

That injunction covers the same six agencies — and 14 others —  but only for those who work in Washington, D.C., and 19 Democratic-led states that sued. As for employees in the other 31 states, the Supreme Court’s ruling clears the way for the administration to refire them. 

The case is one of many requests from the Trump administration for the Supreme Court to intervene on the emergency docket to rein in lower judges who have blocked the president’s policies. Trump and his allies have publicly accosted judges who have ruled against his administration, often accusing them of being “activists.”

The applications so far have led to mixed results.

Early last month, the court refused the administration’s bid to freeze $2 billion in foreign aid payments.

Last week, the court granted the administration’s request to freeze $65 million teacher development grants. And Monday, the court ruled for the administration again by lifting a judge’s block on the administration’s use of the Alien Enemies Act to swiftly deport migrants.

All three decisions were 5-4. 

The Supreme Court is still mulling requests from the Justice Department to narrow injunctions halting Trump’s restrictions on birthright citizenship and to block a judge’s order to return a man mistakenly deported to El Salvador.

Updated at 12:15 p.m. EDT