A federal judge ruled Thursday that the Trump administration must reinstate probationary government employees fired unlawfully at several agencies, lambasting the Justice Department at a hearing for a “sham” gambit that enabled a key official to avoid testifying in the case.
U.S. District Judge William Alsup’s ruling broadens his previous order to now require the government to reinstate probationary employees fired on Feb. 13 and 14 at the Veterans Affairs, Agriculture, Defense, Energy, Interior and Treasury departments.
The case is one of multiple pending lawsuits challenging the mass terminations of probationary workers, who are usually in their first or second year in a role. The firings are just one dimension of a broader effort by the new Trump administration to reshape the federal bureaucracy, which has sparked dozens of lawsuits.
Alsup issued his ruling from the bench after criticizing the government for withdrawing a sworn declaration it submitted from acting Office of Personnel Management (OPM) head Charles Ezell so he wouldn’t have to testify and face cross-examination at Thursday’s hearing, as the judge had ordered.
“Come on, that’s a sham. Go ahead. It upsets me, I want you to know that. I’ve been practicing or serving in this court for over 50 years, and I know how do we get at the truth,” said Alsup, an appointee of former President Clinton.
“And you’re not helping me get at the truth. You’re giving me press releases, sham documents,” the judge added.
Ezell has played a central role in the lawsuit filed by a coalition of government employee unions, as it revolves around claims that Ezell and the OPM directed the firings of probationary employees, not individual federal agencies, in violation of the law and the separation of powers.