'24K employees just won': Judge orders all fired government workers be reinstated

President Donald Trump has lost another lawsuit in his ongoing efforts to fire federal workers.

When he came into office, Trump created the Department of Government Efficiency by executive order. That initiative has been behind the upheaval and dismantling of government agencies. Websites, grants, programs, and employees have been cut or frozen under the promise that Trump will save taxpayers trillions.

Last week, U.S. District Court Judge William Alsup ruled against the administration and sharply criticized "sham documents." He was responding to a case filed by the American Federation of Government Employees to fight the firings of employees during their probationary period.

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Being on probation doesn't mean the worker did something wrong. Some of them are under probationary status because they are new hires, but others have worked in the government for years or decades, and are probationary because they were transferred to a new department or even promoted for meritorious service.

In his ruling, Alsup ordered probationary employees from the Departments of Veterans Affairs, Agriculture, Defense, Energy, Interior, and Treasury to be reinstated. The Trump administration appealed to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, which has now failed.

"The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has denied the Trump administration's attempt to pause this order in a 2-1 decision," Government Executive correspondent Eric Katz wrote on X. "Alsup's ruling remains in effect, all impacted agencies must bring fired employees back on the payroll with immediate effect."

"This will impact the vast majority of those fired. Rough math," he continued, "24,000 employees just won their jobs back."