ANKARA
A federal judge in Maryland has temporarily blocked the Trump administration’s mass firings of probationary federal workers, ordering thousands of dismissed employees to be reinstated, which is the second such ruling issued in a single day, press reports said on Thursday.
US District Judge James Bredar granted a temporary restraining order in a lawsuit brought by 19 states and the District of Columbia, according to CBS News.
The states argue that the mass terminations violated legal procedures and have already caused disruptions in state governments.
"In this case, the government conducted massive layoffs, but it gave no advance notice," Bredar wrote in his ruling.
He rejected the administration’s claim that the firings were based on individual performance, stating that “there were no individualized assessments of employees. They were all just fired. Collectively.”
Since President Donald Trump took office, at least 24,000 probationary employees have been dismissed, according to the lawsuit.
However, the judge’s efforts to obtain an official estimate from a government attorney during a hearing Wednesday were unsuccessful.
The Trump administration has defended the terminations, arguing that states have no right to interfere in the federal government’s employment decisions.
Trump has said the move is part of efforts to eliminate "fraud, waste, and abuse" in what he describes as an oversized federal workforce.
Bredar’s ruling applies a 14-day stay on the layoffs but does not cover firings at the Department of Defense, the National Archives and Records Administration, and the Office of Personnel Management.
He noted that there was not enough evidence at this stage to determine whether reductions in force had occurred in those agencies.
Earlier on Thursday, US District Judge William Alsup in San Francisco issued a similar ruling ordering the Trump administration to reinstate thousands of probationary workers.
His decision stated that the mass terminations were directed by the Office of Personnel Management and its acting director, Charles Ezell, who he ruled lacked the authority to implement the dismissals.
The White House has strongly opposed both rulings. Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt condemned the decisions, calling them an attempt to limit the president’s executive power over hiring and firing.
"The Trump administration will immediately fight back against this absurd and unconstitutional order," the CBS News quoted her as saying.
Alsup’s order requires multiple federal departments, including Veterans Affairs, Agriculture, Defense, Energy, the Interior, and the Treasury, to reinstate affected employees and submit reports within seven days on how they have complied.
The administration has already filed an appeal with the Ninth Circuit Court, setting the stage for further legal battles over the scope of presidential authority in federal workforce management.