Washington — On Monday, the Trump administration requested the Supreme Court to halt a lower court ruling that mandated six agencies to reinstate over 16,000 federal probationary employees who had been terminated.
This emergency relief request from the Justice Department represents the latest effort by the administration to seek support from the Supreme Court amidst over 100 lawsuits challenging President Trump’s policies. Currently, there is also a request pending to narrow injunctions that have blocked the execution of the executive order aimed at ending birthright citizenship, with a decision on that matter anticipated early next month.
The recent action from the Trump administration stems from U.S. District Judge William Alsup’s order earlier this month, which directed six agencies — the Departments of Veterans Affairs, Agriculture, Defense, Energy, Interior, and Treasury — to reinstate probationary employees who were dismissed last month.
The challenge, brought forth by a coalition of labor unions and nonprofit organizations, included the judge’s finding that the terminations were likely unlawful as the Office of Personnel Management lacked the authority to mandate the layoffs.
In the appeal to the Supreme Court, Acting Solicitor General Sarah Harris contended that the district court’s preliminary injunction allowed third parties to “hijack the employment relationship between the federal government and its workforce.”
“Moreover, like several other recent rulings, the court’s remarkable reinstatement order breaches the separation of powers, inappropriately granting a single district court the Executive Branch’s personnel management authority based on flimsy reasoning and swift timelines,” she noted. “This is no way to govern.”
Judge Alsup’s order affects approximately 16,000 federal employees who were still in probationary status, typically within a one- or two-year trial period. A federal appeals court rejected the Trump administration’s plea to suspend the decision, prompting the Justice Department to seek intervention from the Supreme Court.
“This court should not permit a single district court to dismantle the work of Congress and take control over the review of federal personnel decisions — especially not in a manner that grossly exceeds the boundaries of its equitable authority and mandates mass reinstatements,” Harris emphasized.
The Trump administration claims that the district court’s order compels the government to undertake a “massive administrative effort” to reinstate and onboard thousands of terminated employees in an unreasonably short timeframe.
The firings of probationary employees were part of President Trump’s extensive initiative to downsize the federal government, a move being executed by the White House’s Department of Government Efficiency.
According to the Justice Department, over 24,000 probationary workers were dismissed during the mass firings, as stated in court documents submitted in a separate case in Maryland involving 18 agencies that challenged the terminations, with that judge also having temporarily blocked the mass dismissals and ordered the reinstatement of affected federal workers.
As legal disputes concerning President Trump’s second-term initiatives progress through the federal judiciary, both the president and his Republican supporters have criticized district court judges who have issued temporary orders limiting policy enforcement during ongoing proceedings.
Both Mr. Trump and senior White House adviser Elon Musk have frequently advocated for the impeachment of certain judges, although any attempts to remove them seem unlikely to succeed. The president and GOP lawmakers have also condemned the relief measures established by these judges, particularly criticizing their nationwide applicability.
In Supreme Court filings regarding the executive order on birthright citizenship, Harris urged justices to restrict the application of nationwide injunctions.
“Government-by-universal-injunction has persisted long enough, reaching a fever pitch in recent weeks,” she stated. “It is well overdue to restore district courts to their ‘proper — and properly limited — role … in a democratic society.’
On Monday, Harris reiterated that appeal in the matter concerning the mass firings of federal workers, imploring the Supreme Court to “terminate the interbranch power grab.”
“These orders have created chaos as the Executive Branch struggles to meet immediate compliance deadlines by disbursing large sums of government funds, reinstating thousands of lawfully terminated employees, reversing efforts to reorganize Executive Branch agencies, and more,” she asserted. “Lower courts should not be allowed to transform into comprehensive overseers of Executive Branch hiring, firing, contracting, and policymaking.”
