By LINDSAY WHITEHURST
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration
asked the Supreme Court on Monday to halt a ruling ordering the rehiring of
thousands of federal workers let go in mass firings aimed at dramatically
downsizing the federal government.
The emergency appeal argues that the judge
can’t force the executive branch to rehire some 16,000 probationary employees.
The California-based judge found the firings didn’t follow federal law, and he
ordered reinstatement offers be sent as a lawsuit plays out.
Elon Musk, left, shakes hands
with President Donald Trump at the finals for the NCAA wrestling championship,
Saturday, March 22, 2025, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
Elon Musk, left, shakes hands
with President Donald Trump at the finals for the NCAA wrestling championship,
Saturday, March 22, 2025, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
The appeal also calls on the
conservative-majority court to rein in the growing number of federal judges who
have slowed President Donald Trump’s sweeping agenda, at least for now.
“Only this Court can end the interbranch power grab,” the appeal stated.
The nation’s federal court system has
become ground zero for pushback to Trump with the Republican-led Congress
largely supportive or silent, and judges have ruled against Trump’s
administration more than three dozen times after finding violations of federal
law.
The rulings run the gamut from birthright
citizenship changes to federal spending to transgender rights.
Trump’s unparalleled flurry of executive
orders seems destined for several dates at a Supreme Court that he helped shape
with three appointees during his first term, but so far the majority on the
nine-member court has taken relatively small steps in two cases that have reached
it.
The latest order appealed to the high
court was one of two handed down the same day that found separate legal
problems with the way the Republican administration’s firings of probationary
employees were carried out.
The
A briefcase of a census taker is seen as
she knocks on the door of a residence,
Halfway to the 2030 census, the Supreme
Court is still dealing with lawsuits over the last one The Supreme Court is
seen on Capitol Hill in
His order came in a lawsuit filed by a
coalition of labor unions and nonprofit organizations that argued they’d be
affected by the reduced manpower.
Alsup,
who was appointed by Democratic President Bill Clinton, expressed frustration
with what he called the government’s attempt to sidestep laws and regulations
governing a reduction in its workforce — which it is allowed to do — by firing
probationary workers with fewer legal protections.
He said he was appalled that employees
were told they were being fired for poor performance despite receiving glowing
evaluations just months earlier.
But the federal government said the
sweeping order requiring the employees to be rehired goes beyond the judge’s
legal authority. The plaintiffs never had legal standing to sue and did not
prove that the Office of Personnel Management wrongly directed the firings, the
Justice Department argued on appeal.
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