The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals lifted a lower court order blocking the Trump administration from firing probationary workers, freeing the White House to fire thousands of federal workers.
It blocks a ruling that protected probationary workers from being fired if they live or work in Washington, D.C., or the 19 states that sued over a Trump directive to fire government workers hired in the last year or two, depending on their agency.
The 2-1 decision determined that the band of Democratic-led states likely do not have standing to sue over the directive, mimicking a Supreme Court ruling issued one day earlier in a separate challenge brought by that a coalition of government unions.
Following both decisions, the Trump administration is no longer under any court order that requires the reinstatement of terminated probationary employees.
U.S. Circuit Judges Allison Jones Rushing and J. Harvie Wilkinson III formed the 4th Circuit majority that sided with the administration. They were appointed by Trump and former President Reagan, respectively.
In a dissenting opinion, however, Judge DeAndrea Benjamin, an appointee of former President Biden, said states could make the case they were impacted by the widespread firings, including through lost tax revenue and an expected increase in unemployment filings.
The decision lifts an order from U.S. Circuit Judge James Bredar indefinitely barring the Trump administration from terminating thousands of probationary employees. He had declined to extend his order nationwide.
Bredar had previously ordered officials to temporarily reinstate probationary employees fired at 18 agencies, no matter where they physically worked, but narrowed its application in his later ruling.
The Trump administration and the Department of Government Efficiency have looked to make sweeping cuts to the federal bureaucracy, including mass terminations of federal employees in their probationary status.
Bredar ruled the mass terminations constitute a “reduction in force,” which requires notice and other procedures the Trump administration didn’t follow.
— Updated at 3:22 p.m. EDT