A federal judge in San Francisco, William Alsup, ruled on Thursday that the mass layoffs of federal employees in their probationary period, initiated by Donald Trump and Elon Musk, were likely illegal. In response, the judge issued an order temporarily blocking these dismissals while awaiting a final decision. The ruling specifically targets the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and its acting director, Charles Ezell.

According to Judge Alsup, the OPM lacked the authority to order the dismissal of probationary federal employees. He emphasized that when federal agencies fire employees without cause, “that is not right,” adding that federal agencies cannot be run “on lies.”

He further stated, “The Office of Personnel Management has no authority under any statute in history to hire and fire employees from another agency,” as reported by the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), one of the organizations that filed the lawsuit.

Government’s Defense and Justifications

Government attorneys acknowledged that the OPM does not have the power to hire or fire employees from other departments. However, they argued that the OPM did not issue a direct order but merely requested that agencies review whether probationary employees were fit to continue their roles.

“I believe the plaintiffs are confusing an OPM request with an OPM order,” said Kelsey Helland, Assistant U.S. Attorney, in court on Thursday, according to the Associated Press. Government representatives also stated that probationary employees do not have guaranteed employment and that only the highest-performing and most essential employees should be retained.

Legal Challenge and Union Response

The lawsuit, filed on February 19 by five unions and five nonprofit organizations, is part of a broader legal battle against the sweeping job cuts implemented by Trump and Musk in the federal administration. Thousands of probationary employees have already been dismissed, and now, career officials with greater job protections are in their sights.

Judge Alsup ordered the OPM to immediately notify federal agencies, including the Department of Defense, which was set to terminate thousands of probationary employees on Friday, according to unions.

Additionally, the judge instructed the federal government to disclose, by Tuesday, the participants of a February 13 call in which the OPM allegedly directed agencies to fire probationary employees. A more detailed written order is expected to follow.

Union lawyers welcomed the ruling, though it does not automatically reinstate dismissed employees or prevent future layoffs. “We know this decision is just a first step, but it provides some relief to federal employees.

While working to protect public health and safety, federal workers have faced constant harassment from unelected billionaires and anti-union extremists whose sole goal is to secure massive tax breaks at the expense of workers. We will continue advancing this case with our partners until federal workers are safeguarded against these baseless dismissals,” said AFSCME President Lee Saunders in a statement.

A Victory for Federal Employees

“This ruling by Judge Alsup is an important initial victory for patriotic Americans across the country who were illegally dismissed from their jobs by an agency that had no authority to do so,” said Everett Kelley, National President of the American Federation of Government Employees.

“These are frontline workers who joined the federal government to make a difference in their communities, only to be suddenly dismissed due to this administration’s disregard for federal employees and its push to privatize their work.

The OPM’s directive to agencies to engage in indiscriminate layoffs of probationary federal employees is illegal, plain and simple, and our union will continue fighting until we put an end to these demoralizing and harmful attacks on our civil service,” he added.

The Scope of the Layoffs

There are an estimated 200,000 probationary federal workers—employees who have generally been in their roles for less than a year—spread across various federal agencies. Approximately 15,000 of them are employed in California, providing services ranging from wildfire prevention to veteran care, according to the lawsuit.

Plaintiffs in the case claim that multiple agencies informed employees that the OPM had ordered the layoffs, using a standardized email template to notify them that their dismissal was due to performance reasons.

Other Legal Setbacks for the Unions

Unions have faced recent legal challenges in their attempts to stop the layoffs. A federal judge in Washington denied a motion last week to temporarily block the dismissals, ruling that the case should be heard in a federal labor court. Earlier this month, a Massachusetts judge ruled that unions challenging an incentive buyout program lacked legal standing because they were not directly affected.

While Alsup, appointed by former President Bill Clinton, acknowledged that unions might lack standing to sue, he indicated that nonprofit organizations likely do. He argued that their members would be denied government services such as park access, mental health care for veterans, and small business loans due to the loss of federal workers.

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